32 years protecting Clark County. From patrol officer to SWAT commander to Police Chief. Now he's running to bring real leadership, accountability, and integrity back to the Sheriff's Office.
Kenny Kavanaugh is a lifelong Clark County resident who spent 32 years with the Jeffersonville Police Department, working his way up from patrol officer to Chief of Police. He didn't skip steps. He earned every rank.
Along the way, he commanded SWAT operations, went deep undercover in narcotics, served on the FBI Safe Streets Task Force, and worked with the DEA's Louisville office as a narcotics detective.
As Chief for over a decade, he transformed JPD into one of the most respected departments in the region. He implemented department-wide body cameras, brought back community bike patrols, hired a full-time officer wellness chaplain, and adopted the federal 21st Century Policing model.
The Jeffersonville FOP said it best: "Chief Kavanaugh has brought our agency leaps and bounds ahead in capability, and solidified our position as a leader in professional policing in our state and region."
Kenny and his wife Lenae raised their son Jaylan to follow in his footsteps — he's now a police officer himself. For the Kavanaugh family, law enforcement isn't a job. It's a calling.
Joined JPD. Learned policing from the ground up.
Led tactical unit. High-stakes decision making under pressure.
Safe Streets Task Force. DEA Louisville. Taking drugs off the street.
Body cameras, bike patrols, 21st Century Policing, officer wellness.
Stepped down as chief. Stayed on the force. Still serving.
Real accountability inside the Sheriff's Office. Transparent spending. No more protecting bad actors. Every dollar of taxpayer money accounted for — after $3.1 million was stolen, this is non-negotiable.
The same philosophy that made Jeffersonville PD a model agency. Officers who know your neighborhood. Partnerships built on trust, not authority. Policing with the community, not over it.
Officer wellness programs. Competitive pay. Modern training. A culture where good cops are supported and bad behavior is addressed — not where veterans are fired for political reasons.
"If I am elected, on those police cars, it will say 'To protect and to serve.' That is in the name of the people." Leadership with professionalism, integrity, and earned trust.
After a wave of carjackings, Kavanaugh pushed for and secured city council approval for 30 Flock Safety cameras across Jeffersonville. The $75,000 system reads license plates and helps track stolen vehicles in real-time. The program was so successful it expanded to a five-year contract in 2024, and Kavanaugh later proposed extending it to River Ridge industrial park.
Sources: WDRB, Mar 2022 · News & Tribune, Apr 2024 · News & Tribune, Dec 2024When carjackings hit Jeffersonville in early 2022 — including one at the public library and an armed attempt on a 70-year-old near Clark Memorial Hospital — Kavanaugh stepped up patrols immediately and made a public promise: "If you come into our community to commit these crimes, you will be pursued." Both suspects were caught within days, one after a multi-county chase on I-65.
Sources: WDRB, Feb 2022 · WAVE3, Feb 2022 · WLKY, Feb 2022 · News & Tribune, Feb 2022Kavanaugh partnered with LifeSpring Health Systems to secure a $750,000 federal DOJ grant to fight the opioid crisis. Instead of just handing out business cards, the program embedded four social workers and peer support specialists directly with JPD officers to provide immediate intervention — at 3 AM on a Saturday or any other time.
Source: WLKY, Nov 2020After running a careful 10-camera pilot program, Kavanaugh secured full body camera deployment for every officer. "When our officers are called upon, the cameras will go on." Transparency and accountability weren't slogans — they were policy under his leadership.
Sources: Courier-Journal, Jun 2020 · WDRB, Jun 2020Kavanaugh brought back bike patrols to get officers out of cars and into the neighborhoods they serve. "We periodically keep the bike patrol officers moving at times when we know people are out active in their neighborhoods." Residents and community groups responded with overwhelmingly positive feedback.
Source: News & Tribune, 2022Kavanaugh brought Chaplain Conrad Moorer — who had volunteered for 25+ years — onto the payroll as a part-time staff member. Moorer became part of the new recruit and in-service training curriculum, because Kavanaugh believed you can't serve the community if you're burning out the officers who protect it.
Source: News & Tribune, Dec 2022Under Kavanaugh's leadership, JPD created a 12-week Citizens Police Academy to give residents hands-on insight into police work — use of force decisions, defense tactics, investigations. The program built trust between officers and the community and ran for multiple years.
Source: News & Tribune, Aug 2015 · WLKY, Oct 2017A Jeffersonville man was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for sexual exploitation of a child. Kavanaugh made the department's stance clear: "His predatory actions impacted not only the victims in this case but caused a ripple effect across our community."
Source: News & Tribune, Jun 2024When a man who had threatened officers showed up at the JPD, Kavanaugh coordinated a SWAT team, K-9 unit, and drone response. The suspect surrendered in minutes without a shot fired. "It could have turned out a lot worse for both him and the department."
Source: WLKY, Dec 2025Featured in a News & Tribune profile on Black leaders in southern Indiana law enforcement, Kavanaugh spoke about his father's influence: "You want to give yourself to something greater, other than yourself. Here in the city of Jeffersonville, I'm proud to be part of something great." His own son, Jaylan, followed him into policing.
Source: News & Tribune, Aug 2023Under Kavanaugh, JPD officers participated in Shop With a Cop every holiday season — taking underprivileged children shopping for Christmas gifts. The department's Facebook documented it as "a huge success" year after year.
Source: News & Tribune, Dec 2022 · JPD Facebook, Dec 2024Former Sheriff Jamey Noel pled guilty to theft, obstruction of justice, tax evasion, money laundering, and official misconduct. He was sentenced to 12 years. The current sheriff, Scottie Maples, served as Noel's chief deputy.
Source: WDRB, October 2024When the scandal broke in 2022, Maples publicly defended Noel: "I'm not going to try to push off Sheriff Noel based on some lies made up by some attorneys and some inmates." Noel later pled guilty to all 27 felonies.
Source: LPM, October 2022Under Noel's leadership — with Maples as chief deputy — 28 incarcerated women filed federal lawsuits alleging rape, assault, and harassment at the Clark County jail. Men reportedly accessed the women's area with a key purchased from a corrections officer.
Source: WFPL / LPM, October 2022In December 2025, Maples moved to terminate Sgt. Tom Higdon, a 36-year veteran. Higdon's family says the real reason was political retaliation — he'd been seen supporting another candidate. The Clark County Merit Board overruled Maples and kept Higdon.
Source: WDRB / WHAS11, December 2025"Chief Kavanaugh has brought our agency leaps and bounds ahead in capability, and solidified our position as a leader in professional policing in our state and region."Jeffersonville FOP Lodge 100
"We had in Kenny Kavanaugh a chief that had clear leadership goals for the police department. We have a well-respected police department in the city of Jeffersonville, and interrupting that is a shame."City Council President Evan Stoner
"I think highly of Kenny and the Kavanaugh family. His dedication to the community and the department are unwavering."Mayor Mike Moore
"The epitome of the expression: street cop to the top cop! At his core, Chief Kavanaugh is a family man and he loves policing. For him, this is not work at all — it is a calling."The Coptimizer Podcast