Nearly a year after death, former Powell County judge executive's family seeks justice
POWELL COUNTY, Ky. (FOX 56) — Nearly one year after the tragic death of former Powell County Judge Executive James Anderson, his family is locked in a legal battle they say is about justice and prevention.
What began as a routine workday turned fatal for Anderson, who had transitioned to construction work after serving as judge executive for nearly 12 years. His son, Clayton Anderson, remembers his father as a man committed to service.
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'He was a leader through servitude; he strongly believed in that principle and serving his community,' Clayton said. 'That's what brought him happiness.'
Anderson was employed by Codell Construction, supervising work being done by Rising Sun Development at a school construction site in Jackson County.
According to the Kentucky State Police, on May 21, 2024, while Anderson was helping unload concrete tiles from an equipment trailer, he fell from the trailer during the process and later died from his injuries at the hospital.
His son still struggles with the loss.
'I, still, to this day, catch myself pulling out my phone to give my dad a call,' Clayton said. 'Unfortunately, that was taken away from me and my family in such an ultimately unfortunate way.'
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'Devastating is the only way to put it,' he added.
Now, the family and their attorney, Robert Roark, are pointing to surveillance footage they say proves Anderson's death was not only avoidable but also the result of unsafe and prohibited work practices.
'It shouldn't have ever happened,' Roark said.
In the video, Anderson is seen standing on the back of the truck as the crew unloads a concrete slab. Before a second slab could be safely removed, the truck driver moved forward, causing the slab to shift. As it came loose, both the slab and Anderson were knocked from the truck.
Roark says the incident illustrates a dangerous pattern.
'The JMC truck driver, his statement indicated, because he delivers a lot of these slabs to Rising Sun's construction sites, said that this is a fairly typical way they unload these slabs,' Roark explained. 'Which tells us this is a bigger issue than the single tragedy that happened here, and that risk is being borne in every other building where they're doing the same unloading process.'
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Roark also pointed to the use of a method known as 'free rigging,' where rigging equipment is attached directly to the forks of a forklift. According to OSHA, free rigging is a prohibited practice, and Rising Sun's policies ban it.
'Free rigging is banned by OSHA, has been for years,' Roark said. 'Free rigging is banned by Rising Sun's own policies, which say we can never do this. Free rigging is bad enough with a stationary truck, because the concrete slabs have been unstrapped. Now, when you pull a truck forward in motion, as Mr. Anderson is attempting to attach the netting to the forklift on loose slabs that each weigh 300 pounds—that's a recipe for absolute tragedy. And that's what happened here.'
Rising Sun filed a lawsuit against the Anderson family and Anderson's estate, seeking to classify James Anderson as their employee at the time of the incident.
In response, Roark filed a counterclaim on the family's behalf, arguing Anderson's death was the direct result of negligence and entirely preventable.
'If this case could stop one other person from going through the same fate this family did—that's what everyone wants at this table,' Roark said.
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We reached out to Rising Sun for comment but have not received a response.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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