Todd Pate, former Breckinridge County sheriff, behind bars after guilty plea

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A former Breckinridge County, Kentucky, sheriff has pleaded guilty and is behind bars.

Todd Pate is now in the Grayson County Detention Center after he was sentenced Thursday for a DUI charge.

His attorney, Douglas Vowels, said Pate turned himself in Wednesday.

His arrest in March 2019 was his second DUI. His previous DUI arrest was in October 2015 in a Waffle House parking lot in Bowling Green. In that case, he was charged with DUI, reckless driving and terroristic threatening. He didn't spend any time in jail, because his 30-day sentence was suspended. He paid an $800 fine.

Pate is required to serve 75 days in jail, but with credits will only have to serve 29 more days, according to his attorney.

"He pled and entered into a pretrial diversion," Vowels said.

Vowels said that means his charges will be dismissed.

He had been been sheriff since 2003 before retiring at the end of February. County residents had petitioned for Pate to resign. Kentucky law does not allow voter recall of an elected sheriff.

In March, Billy Richardson was appointed sheriff of Breckenridge County.

"My No. 1 goal is just to restore the image of the sheriff's office," Richardson said.

He talked to WDRB News on Friday and said he's working hard to get the sheriff's office moving in the right direction.

"Get our office running efficiently, get us up to date on policies and procedures, just kind of get us going in the right direction and get the sheriff's office back on track," he said.

While some say the credibilty of the sheriff's office took a hit because of Pate's charges, other community members said it shouldn't bare the weight of his mistakes.

"You kind of realize that just because Todd, or whoever, has done what he's done, it doesn't reflect on the entire department," Breckenridge County resident Jonathan Voyles said.

Pate's attorney declined to speak on camera Friday.

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