FRANKFORT — Former state Sen. Dale Shrout of Mount Sterling abruptly resigned his position as commissioner of the Department of Vehicle Regulation, citing a need to attend to family business.
Transportation Cabinet spokesman Mark Pfeiffer said Shrout’s resignation was dated Sept. 13, but not delivered until Monday. Shrout did not give two weeks’ notice of his departure and was not expected back at work, Pfeiffer said.
Shrout did not return calls for comment.
Shrout, who was a retired probation and parole officer, was appointed in August 2001 after the sudden departure of another commissioner, Ed Logsdon. The department had been in disarray and was the subject of internal and attorney general’s investigations into reports that driver license records were being altered for money.
Bobby Russell, the cabinet’s new inspector general, said Monday that neither Shrout nor the department were the subject of any inquiry.
In his resignation letter to Secretary James Codell, Shrout expressed his support and admiration for employees in the department.
Prior to beginning his position in the Transportation Cabinet in August 2001, Shrout, 61, was a retired state probation and parole officer before winning a hotly contested senatorial race in 1998. He served as senator of the 28th District, which at the time included Fleming County as well as Bath, Clark, Estill, Montgomery and Powell counties.
William “Mack” Bushart has been appointed acting commissioner of the Department of Vehicle Regulation. Bushart has been director of the Division of Motor Vehicle Licensing for the past two years.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: Staff Writer Kelly Sudzina contributed to this story.)
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