Former DOCJT commissioner recalls being let go, adds agency wanted “someone younger”

(WTVQ)  — Alex Payne was appointed commissioner of the Department of Criminal Justice Training back in 2018.
Payne was coming into the position with a lengthy resume in criminal justice, including over two decades at Kentucky State Police.
In January of 2020, things changed Payne would receive a call, that he says exhibited a change he knew would eventually come but not in the way he expected.

“Basically I had received a phone call from then the Secretary of the Justice Cabinet basically telling me that they were going to replace me with someone younger. They were going to take some youth and put it into my position and take the leadership in a different way was exactly what was said, and that was kind of shocking to me.

Alex Payne recalled the moment his law enforcement career took an unexpected turn, one that left him questioning his years of loyalty and devotion.

“I had no problem with checking out, it’s just the way they checked me out. So that kind of left a bad taste in my mouth the way that was handled,” added Payne.

Payne was appointed commissioner in 2018 during Gov. Matt Bevin’s administration.
The decorated official spent decades in different branches of law enforcement and was coming into the department with a wealth of knowledge.

“One of the big things we did right off the bat is got them kicking and screaming into this century and updated the ability of them to communicate not only with each other, but their instructors to have everything that they need right there,” recalled Payne on making changes as commissioner.

He says after being told they wanted to bring in someone younger, he questioned himself and eventually informed the department he would sue.
But the lawsuit never happened.

“There never was a lawsuit that was initiated. It was fairly quickly settled,” added Payne.

Also adding that the current allegations against the department demand transparency from the institution.

“It’s sad, not something that you want to see happen to an institution like that. It has a great history throughout the state and anything I think that tarnishes that is obviously not a good thing, but it’s got to be faced, it’s got to be dealt with. And that’s just, that’s part of being in the leadership positions of those institutions. I think the more transparent you can be, especially with the public that you’re going out there to serve, the better off you’re going to be,” says Payne.

Nicolai Jilek replaced Payne as commissioner as part of Governor Andy Beshear’s administration.

We’ve reached to Jilek asking if he would do an interview or if he had any comment on the pending lawsuit, he declined to do so.