A Kentucky school board member won reelection despite facing an indictment over the alleged theft of money from a youth soccer league. Ben Dorsey retained his seat on the Clark County Public Schools Board of Education in the November 3rd, 2026, election. Another sitting board member, Ashley Ritchie-Rowland, faces a charge in the same case. Both have pleaded not guilty.
The allegations concern the Winchester Youth Soccer League, where both officials previously served on the governing board. Their arrests followed an investigation by Kentucky State Police into the organization’s finances. The criminal case concerns their activities with the league rather than their work overseeing the school district, where they continued serving after being charged.
The investigation began after suspicious banking activity involving the soccer league surfaced in October 2025. Investigators examined purchases and withdrawals allegedly made for personal use with the organization’s money. Parents subsequently raised concerns about the two officials at a December school board meeting, months before police arrested them on June 24th, 2026. Both were booked into the Clark County Detention Center.
Dorsey received 726 votes, approximately 78% of the total, in the District 4 contest, as WKYT reported. Two write-in candidates divided the remaining votes: Katie Brashear Jones received 150 votes, while Valerie Frost received 52. Ritchie-Rowland’s school board seat was not up for election this year, leaving her outside the November contest while the criminal proceedings against both officials continued.
WKYT’s earlier report on the arrests detailed allegations in Ritchie-Rowland’s arrest citation involving more than $70,000 in league funds between May 2023 and November 2025. Investigators identified transactions involving Amazon, Boost Mobile, Walmart, Hulu and Venmo, along with ATM withdrawals. The citation said photographs corroborated withdrawals she allegedly made using a card issued by the league. Investigators allegedly linked transactions to her name, address and personal accounts without the approval required by the league’s bylaws.
The case reached a preliminary hearing on September 2nd, 2026, when it was sent to a grand jury, WKYT reported. Both defendants had entered not-guilty pleas the previous month. At that stage, the reported charges fell within the theft category covering amounts between $10,000 and $1 million.
Watch WKYT’s report on the arrests here:
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A grand jury returned the indictments on October 20th, according to WinCity Voices, which reported that Dorsey had served as the soccer league’s treasurer. He was originally charged with complicity, while the indictment charged both defendants with theft. During the preliminary hearing, investigator Frank Thornberry described records showing unauthorized transactions. The reported purchases included furniture, clothing, a computer, household goods, cellphone charges and television streaming services. The indictments alleged crimes occurring between 2023 and June 2026.
Superintendent Dustin Howard addressed the limits of local officials’ authority after the arrests, WKYT reported in June. His statement was posted on the school district’s social media. He said neither the district nor the other school board members could remove Dorsey and Ritchie-Rowland from their elected seats. Howard explained that the state attorney general would have to become involved and that the two would be subject to removal if convicted of a felony.
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video.