Keown attends final court meeting after three decades of service

More than three decades in any one position is a pretty impressive feat, it proves even more impressive when that position is an elected one.

On Dec. 13, Larry Keown attended his last Ohio County Fiscal Court meeting as an elected official. Keown decided after serving as magistrate of the fourth district for 33 years to retire from his seat and not seek reelection this year.

“After 33 years, I felt like that was long enough and I accomplished a lot of the things I wanted to accomplish when I ran with waterlines, infrastructure and roads and making sure our sheriff, clerk and jailer were supplied additional funds.”

He said when he was first elected as magistrate, about 30% of the county had access to county water and that number is closer to 99% now thanks to the help of the court.

He is proud of that accomplishment during his time as magistrate, but was quick to credit the judges and magistrates with helping to make it possible.

“There are very few

waterlines left to run,” he said. “I feel like that was one of my main accomplishments – not just mine but the whole court helped in accomplishing that.”

Judge-Executive David Johnston said during the fiscal court meeting last week that Keown played an integral role in the water project.

“Larry did draw up that original plan to take some money from the landfill and dedicate it to waterline expansions,” he said.

It was that plan along with matching grants that allow the expansion to become reality, Johnston said.

Johnston said Keown also helped with the plans to save the county’s fire departments funding and 911 when “it was looking very bleak for them.”

During his more than three decades of service, the fourth district has seen some improvements to its infrastructure such as concrete bridges and tile replacements and improved road surfaces.

“Not as much as I would like to have done, but you do what you can as the money allows,” Keown said.

Keown called every court he has served on “progressive” in heading Ohio County in the right direction.

“Like any other organization there have been some stressful times trying to get things accomplished that you felt like needed to be done and you run into some difficulties, but one of the things about the court is we have always learned to agree to disagree,” he said. “I can’t say there’s not been some difficult times, but it has always been a learning experience.”

One of the biggest changes he has seen is the court’s budget over the years. When he was first elected, the county had a budget of between $2.5-$3 million. Now, he said the budget is around $15.5 million.

“That makes a lot of difference when you have a little more money to spend toward projects and services that you need to run the county,” he said.

Keown called serving as the magistrate of the fourth district an “honor and a pleasure” and said he was thankful that they had the trust in him to reelect him for 33 years.

“I really won’t miss the job, but I will certainly miss the people that I’ve worked with, become acquainted with and become friends with,” he said.

Kenneth Calloway was elected in November to replace Keown as fourth district magistrate. There will be two other new members of the fiscal court in January. Michael McKenney will serve as first district magistrate after he defeated incumbent Sam Small in the General Election and Bo Bennett will serve as magistrate in district three after winning in November over Scott Tichenor who defeated incumbent Joe Barnes in the primary.

“My hope is the new court coming in will get along as well as I have with the previous judges and magistrates. It has certainly been an enjoyment working with you guys,” Keown told the court at the end of last week’s meeting.