Commission Members and Staff

​​​​​​​​​​​​Commission Members

Crit Luallen, Chairman

Former Lieutenant Governor Crit Luallen is known as one of Kentucky's most experienced and respected public leaders, after serving with seven Gov​ernors and being elected twice to statewide office. In 2019, the University of Kentucky Martin School of Public Policy and Administration acknowledged her as a Trailblazer in Public Policy. Governor Steve Beshear appointed Luallen as Kentucky's 56th Lieutenant Governor in 2014. As Lt. Governor, she chaired KyHealthNow, an initiative to develop strategies and track progress toward a healthier Kentucky.

Luallen was elected the state's Auditor of Public Accounts in 2003 and re-elected in 2007. Prior to that, she served nearly seven years as Secretary of the Governor's Executive Cabinet, the highest appointed position in Kentucky state government. Previous appointments include State Budget Director, Secretary of the Finance Cabinet, Secretary of the Tourism, Arts & Heritage Cabinet, and Commissioner of the Department of the Arts. As Commissioner of the Arts, Luallen helped found the Kentucky Governor's School for the Arts. She also served as Senior Vice President and then President of the Greater Louisville Economic Development Partnership, a regional economic development agency. In 2009, she was named Public Official of the Year by the Washington, D.C.-based magazine Governing for her positive impact on government in Kentucky.

​Luallen is a native of Frankfort, a graduate of Centre College, where she serves on the Board of Trustees, and is married to Lynn Luallen. Governor Andy Beshear appointed Luallen to the Commission on May 27, 2020 to a four-year term, which expires May 27, 2024.  Luallen was elected Vice-Chair July 17, 2024 and Chair of the Commission ​​ January 21, 2026.​

Justice Daniel J. Venters (Ret.)​, Vice-Chair​

Justice Venters entered the practice of law in 1975 in Somerset, Kentucky, where he served as a part-time Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney under then-Commonwealth's Attorney, now Congressman Hal Rogers. He practiced with the Somerset law firm of Rogers & Venters until January of 1979, when he became a District Court Judge for Pulaski and Rockcastle Counties. Elected to the circuit court bench in 1983, Justice Venters served as Chief Circuit Court Judge for 28th Judicial Circuit (Pulaski, Rockcastle, and Lincoln Counties) from January 1984 until June 2003, when he returned to the practice of law in Somerset. Justice Venters is a 1975 graduate of the University of Kentucky College of Law and a 1972 graduate of The Ohio State University, where he majored in economics. He is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court and the U.S. District Courts for Eastern and Western Kentucky. He has served as a member of Kentucky Board of Bar Examiners, a member of the Kentucky Bar Association Board of Governors, a trustee of the Judicial Form Retirement System, and a member of the AppalReD Legal Aid Board of Directors.​

Justice Venters was born in 1950 in Charleston, West Virginia. He is married to Circuit Court/Family Judge, Jane Adams Venters. The Venters' have five children and thirteen grandchildren. 

Governor Andy Beshear appointed Justice Venters to the Commission on June 15, 2020 to a two-year term. He was appointed under the requirements of Executive Order 2020-423 from a list of nominees submitted by the Attorney General. He was re-appointed by Governor Beshear on July 18, 2022 to a four-year term which will expire May 27, 2026.​

David S. Samford, Member

David S. Samford is the General Counsel for East Kentucky Power Cooperative, Inc., in Winchester, Kentucky.​ He previously served as a Special Advisor to Governor Ernie Fletcher; Executive Director of the Office of Legal Services within the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet; General Counsel, Senior Policy Advisor and Deputy Executive Director of the Kentucky Public Service Commission; and as a Special Justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court. David has previously been appointed to the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance on two prior occasions and served as a Director of the Bluegrass Community and Technical College. David also served as a law clerk to the Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky and on the Leadership Staff of the Kentucky State Senate.

Mr. Samford was appointed to the Commission by Governor Andy Beshear on June 23, 2020 to a one-year term upon the recommendation of State Auditor of Public Accounts, Mike Harmon. On July 18, 2022 Governor Beshear re-appointed Mr. Samford to a three-year term set to expire May 27, 2025.

Richard H. Campbell, Jr. ​Member​​

​​​ ​An attorney for more than 40 years, Richard H. Campbell, Jr., engaged in private practice in Danville for 12 years, while also serving as Assistant Boyle County Attorney, Domestic Relations Commissioner and then Master Commissioner for the 5oth Judicial Circuit, and Commissioner/Hearing Officer for the Department of Workers Claims.  In 1988, he was appointed as an Administrative Law Judge with that Department, a position he held for 14 years.  After returning to private practice in 2002, he successfully sought election as the Boyle County Attorney and subsequently served as such for 14 years. 

Campbell, a Maryland native, is a graduate of Centre College and the University of Kentucky College of Law.  He is married to Joy Burress Campbell.  They have three children and five grandchildren.

Richard Campbell was appointed to the Commission by Governor Andy Beshear on June 13, 2024 to replace Judge Rodger Crittenden whose term expired May 27, 2024.  Campbell will serve a four-year term expiring May 27, 2028.​

Audrey Tayes Haynes​, ​Member​​

​​​ ​Audrey Tayse Haynes is a retired executive, in the non-profit and public service sectors at both the state and national levels, serving in the administrations of four Kentucky Governors, a President and Vice President of the United States. Prior to retirement, Audrey served as Secretary of Kentucky's Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS) for Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear. 

As Secretary of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Ms. Haynes oversaw the implementation of the most comprehensive reforms in healthcare for Kentucky in decades. Through Medicaid expansion and the establishment of kynect, Kentucky's state-based health benefit exchange, more than 500,000 Kentuckians were newly insured, and Kentucky celebrated the largest decline in its' uninsured rate in the country. Other noted accomplishments included:  Improvements to the childcare rating system for early childhood programs; modernizing the state's Certificate of Need program to improve quality and increase access to healthcare; expanding the Behavioral Health and Substance Abuse Treatment provider network and behavioral health and substance abuse treatment services; and improving and expanding community-based services for seniors. 

Ms. Haynes spent more than 19 years working in and out of Washington, DC, serving in both the public and nonprofit sectors. Most notably Audrey served as Senior Vice President of the YMCA of the USA's state and national government affairs.  She served on Senior Staff as Deputy Assistant to President William Jefferson Clinton overseeing the Women's Outreach and Policy Office at the White House and Special Assistant to Vice President Al Gore and Chief of Staff to Tipper Gore during the Clinton/Gore White House.  Audrey's first professional opportunity in Washington was in 1993 as Executive Director of Business and Professional Women/USA and the BPW Foundation. There she advocated for pay equity, women's health, along with many other policies to improve the lives of working women and their families. 

Audrey graduated from Adair County High School, received her Bachelor of Science degree in Social Work at Spalding University in Louisville, KY and her Master of Social Work at the University of Kentucky, Lexington. 

She has served on numerous boards and committees throughout her career receiving honors and awards. Her husband, Michael Haynes, is a purple heart veteran and retired nonprofit executive. Together they also owned and operated small businesses. Currently they live in Louisville. 

Haynes was appointed to the Commission by Governor Andy Beshear on January 16, 2026 to serve the remainder of  David Karem's term who resigned.  Haynes's term expires May 27, 2028.​

Staff

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