A nationwide search for a permanent replacement is underway and a decision will be made sometime after the first meeting, York said.
Jesse Skees, who serves as executive director of the Office of Inspector General for the Kentucky Natural Resources and Environmental Public Protection Authority, will be the acting executive director of the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority until a permanent replacement is found.Skees will temporarily serve in place of Bernie Hettel, who resigned from the racing authority last week. The Office of Inspector General falls under the Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet, as does the new racing authority. The first meeting of the racing authority is likely to come the first week in February, said Mark York, deputy secretary of the Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet.