Chris “Spud” Spaulding says he will leave his position as Shelby County’s director of emergency services, emergency management and 911 communications effective January 1, 2027.
In a statement on the county emergency-services Facebook page, Spaulding said he plans to move into another position working across Kentucky. He did not name the new employer or identify a successor.
The transition will affect leadership of offices that prepare for disasters and coordinate emergency calls for local responders. The county’s emergency-management and 911 pages still list Spaulding as director.
His announcement comes while the county is building a facility to house 911 communications, an emergency operations center and a tornado safe room. Spaulding said finishing that project remains part of the work ahead before he leaves.
In a September 3 interview on ShelbyKY Tourism’s Kentucky Hidden Wonders podcast, Spaulding described plans to move 911 out of the old jail, where he said the center has operated since 2001. The new facility would bring dispatch, emergency management and space for coordinating a disaster response together.
Spaulding also traced his public-service career in that interview. He said he joined the Shelbyville Fire Department in 1994, rose to assistant chief and retired in 2015 before moving into county emergency management.
In his departure statement, Spaulding thanked dispatchers, emergency-management staff, first responders and his family. He described growing up in Cropper and spending much of his adult life serving the county he calls home.
“I’m not gone yet,” he wrote, promising to keep working through his final day. He said the future of the agency’s Facebook page is still being worked out.