Derifield named new county attorney

By Lilly Adkins

BSN Associate Editor

LOUISA — Lawrence County Judge-Executive Phillip Carter accepted the resignation of Lawrence County Attorney Michael Hogan on March 28 and appointed Assistant County Attorney Brad Derifield the following day to fulfill the rest of Hogan’s term.

Derifield is a 1990 graduate of Lawrence County High School and a 1994 graduate of Centre College in Danville. He went to law school at Emory University in Atlanta and was licensed to practice law in Kentucky in 1997.

In 2010, he began working as assistant county attorney and held the job for nearly 12 years. In June 2021, Attorney General Daniel Cameron appointed him to the position of acting county attorney.

Derifield is married to Angel Pack Derifield, a fifth-grade teacher at Louisa East Elementary, and they have two sons, Jake, a sophomore at Lawrence County High School, and Gray, a sixth grader at Louisa Middle School.

Hogan and his wife Joy are scheduled for sentencing on July 6 after entering guilty pleas to felony offenses. Hogan submitted his resignation as part of his plea agreement.

Michael Hogan and Joy Hogan pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud, and Michael Hogan also pleaded guilty to federal program theft.

According to the Hogans’ plea agreements, they conspired with each other to commit wire fraud by issuing checks from a second delinquent tax account for the Lawrence County Attorney’s Office, the statements for which went to their personal residence.

Michael Hogan and Joy Hogan would routinely prepare “bonus” checks issued to Joy and signed by Michael paid with delinquent tax funds that should have been used on operating expenses for the Lawrence County Attorney’s Office, the plea agreements said.

The Hogans deposited the checks into her personal account and the couple’s joint accounts and spent the funds on personal expenses, the release said. Michael Hogan admitted he personally benefitted from the payments and knew some of the payments were not reasonable in amount, nor beneficial to the public the plea agreement said. According to the indictment, between March 8, 2013 and April 30, 2020, Michael Hogan paid his wife more than $365,000 from the Lawrence County delinquent tax account.

Michael Hogan also admitted to defrauding the Lawrence County Child Support Enforcement Office, part of the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, the plea agreement said. According to the plea agreement, he billed the program for more hours than he actually worked.