by Liam Niemeyer, Kentucky Lantern
March 26, 2025

The first Black Kentuckian to serve on the board overseeing Kentucky’s fish and wildlife management agency says he’s concerned a bill passed by the Republican-controlled legislature is intended to push him off the board. 

Senate Bill 245, which Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear has vetoed, could apply only to Jerry Ferrell this year because he is the only member up for reappointment to the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Commission. Ferrell has represented Central Kentucky on the commission since 2021.

The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Brandon Smith, R-Hazard, denied the measure is specifically aimed at Ferrell. 

Beshear in his veto message noted that Ferrell — “the first-ever Black member on the commission” — has yet to be confirmed for reappointment by the GOP-controlled Senate. Beshear criticized SB 245 as “legislative game-playing.” 

Currently, Fish and Wildlife Commission members continue to serve until the end of the year if reappointed by the governor without being confirmed by the Senate. SB 245 would change that. 

Senate leadership wanted bill, says sponsor

Smith, who is the chair of a legislative committee that reviews appointments to the commission, told the Lantern earlier this month he doesn’t know Ferrell personally. He said Senate leadership had brought him the bill to fix what was considered to be a “loophole” in the process for appointing the volunteer board overseeing the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources (KDFWR).

But Ferrell sees things differently. Earlier this month, he wrote in a post on Facebook that SB 245 “was drafted specifically to terminate my position” and that he “strived to make impartial decisions” on the commission.

“Having grown up in Kentucky, I have always cherished hunting and fishing with my father. However, it appears some Trump supporters are determined to see me removed,” he wrote. “I have maintained positive relationships with everyone, and I fail to understand how political affiliations should be an issue in this context. Could there be an ulterior motive?” 

Ferrell, a registered Democrat, told the Lantern he doesn’t have evidence that links him to the bill, but phone calls he’s had with sportsmen who support his reappointment to the commission have led him to believe social media posts he’s made and shared critical of President Donald Trump could be playing a role in whether he continues to serve on the board. 

He said he loves bass and tournament fishing and wants to continue serving on the board. He believes his personal politics should not be a consideration in his work on the commission. The board by state law is required to be bipartisan in makeup, and commission members aren’t identified by political party.

“Politics has nothing to do with fish and wildlife,” Ferrell said. “I want to see other people see me doing the job that they haven’t seen a Black doing before on the commission. And I’m a proud Black American.”

How SB 245 could impact Ferrell — and only Ferrell — this year

The commission is made up of nine unpaid members who oversee the KDFWR’s budget consisting of tens of millions of dollars in hunting and fishing license fees, boat registration fees, and federal grants. State law directs the commission to keep a “watchful eye” over the department, and the commission controls the employment of the KDFWR’s head executive, Commissioner Rich Storm. 

Each commission member represents a different geographic part of Kentucky. Fellow sportspeople vote for commission nominees in district meetings. A list of the top vote-getters is sent to the governor who selects someone from the list. The Senate then decides whether or not to confirm the governor’s appointments or reappointments. Commission members are allowed to serve two four-year terms. 

Politics swirl around who will oversee Kentucky Fish and Wildlife

That confirmation process has been politically contentious in recent years with the GOP-controlled Senate denying a number of Democrat Beshear’s appointments to the commission. 

Those denials have left vacancies on the commission, leading some sportsmen to accuse Republicans of having “weaponized” the confirmation process against the votes and voices of sportspeople. Republicans have pushed back on that criticism, arguing they need to be able to vet each candidate. At least one Republican senator has considered partisan allegiance in whether to confirm a person to the commission. Sportsmen have said the work of the commission on wildlife issues should largely be apolitical. 

Ferrell was appointed by Beshear in 2021 and confirmed by the Senate in 2022. With Ferrell’s term ending at the end of last year, the KDFWR held a district meeting in November to nominate a replacement. 

Kentucky Senate confirms four of Beshear’s five appointees to Fish and Wildlife board

Ferrell was among the top vote getters, and Beshear issued an executive order on Jan. 20 to reappoint him to a second term expiring at the end of 2028. The executive order also appointed three commission members to their first terms. Ferrell is still serving due to state law allowing commission members to serve an additional year if a replacement has not been appointed and confirmed.

On Feb. 18, the last day for senators to file bills, Smith introduced SB 245, which could impact Ferrell’s time on the board by changing  state law so that if the Senate does not confirm a commission reappointment during a legislative session, then the commission member whose reappointment was denied would have to vacate their seat when the legislature adjourns. 

While the bill would affect reappointments in future years, Ferrell is the only commission member whose reappointment confirmation is pending in the Senate this year. With two days left in this session, no senator has filed a resolution to confirm his reappointment. 

If Ferrell’s reappointment is not confirmed and SB 245 becomes law, Ferrell would have to vacate his seat when the legislature adjourns on Friday. 

A pending board confirmation and veto override

For that to happen, the legislature would have to override Beshear’s veto of SB 245 — an easy task for Republicans who hold a supermajority of legislative seats.

Beshear in his veto message said the bill “is not what the sportsmen and sportswomen of Kentucky deserve.” 

“In the current legislative session, the Senate has yet to confirm the reappointment of the first ever Black member on the Commission, despite his confirmation to the position in 2022 and renomination by the sportsmen and sportswomen,” Beshear wrote. “[T]he Senate’s pattern of denying confirmation of the members they select shows the legislature is deferring to someone besides the sportsmen and sportswomen.” 

Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, after confirming some of Beshear’s appointments to the commission last year, told reporters that protecting KDFWR Commissioner Rich Storm from appointees interested in retaliating against Storm was a priority for senators. Storm and Beshear have previously clashed on issues ranging from Storm’s contract to procurement within the KDFWR. 

When asked about the veto of SB 245, Ferrell’s concerns and whether the Senate would confirm Ferrell’s reappointment, Kentucky Senate Republican Majority Caucus spokesperson Angela Billings wrote in an email: “SB 245 reinforces the Senate’s constitutional power of confirmation.”

In a legislative committee earlier this month, Smith told lawmakers there was a need for “decorum” for people serving on boards and commissions confirmed by the Senate.

Storm over lunch sounds apologetic

“The governor has the ability of appointing through his process the individuals that he feels are most qualified, but because we have to weigh in and confirm them and sort of put our credibility on the line, we want to do a little bit deeper dive into some of the backgrounds and just the criteria we want to find in these positions,” Smith told lawmakers. 

Ferrell worries the prospect of him being removed from the seat is a sign of a broader “culture” against diversity. He said he didn’t attend a quarterly meeting of the Fish and Wildlife Commission last week in part because he was upset about the situation. 

He said he had lunch recently with Storm, the KDFWR commissioner, who encouraged him to attend the quarterly meeting. Ferrell said Storm “kind of apologized” to him “about what was going on,” but Ferrell said Storm was vague about what the apology was for. 

Lisa Jackson, a KDFWR spokesperson, said earlier this month that Storm had no comment on the bill because state law prohibits employees of the department from directly or indirectly influencing the appointment of a commission member. 

“I just couldn’t go down and put that happy face on knowing that I’ve got people that adamantly don’t want me there,” Ferrell said. “Anybody that thinks that minorities don’t hunt or fish is crazy, because there’s a lot of us out there, and we enjoy it just like everybody else does. It’s just the times that we’re in that’s concerning me.” 

Kentucky Lantern is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kentucky Lantern maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jamie Lucke for questions: info@kentuckylantern.com.

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