The Commission

Our Purpose

It is the purpose of the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Human Rights Commission to safeguard all individuals within Lexington-Fayette County from discrimination because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability, familial status and sexual orientation/gender identity in connection with employment, housing and public accommodations.

The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Human Rights Commission shall serve as an investigative, consultative, educational, persuasive, and enforcement agency in order to guarantee equal opportunity for all people of the City of Lexington and Fayette County.

Fair Housing

The HRC serves as a supporter of affordable and fair housing for all in Lexington-Fayette County. The HRC is involved in many collaborative efforts with various organizations that support fair housing.

An Overview

The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Human Rights Commission was created by an inter-local agreement by the City of Lexington and the Fiscal Court of Fayette County in January of 1967. The predecessor of the joint Commission, the Lexington Commission on Human Rights, was created in June of 1963. The Commission was reconstituted by the charter created by the merger of the city of Lexington and Fayette County into a united urban county government. The present Lexington-Fayette Urban County Human Rights Commission was created in 1974.

The Commission is made up of fourteen (14) members who, as nearly as possible, make up the social, economic, cultural, ethnic, and racial groups which compose the population of Fayette County. The Commissioners serve four (4) year terms and serve without compensation. The Commission has several committees to carry out its purposes. The current committees are: Executive Committee, Budget Committee, Community Relations Committee, Housing Committee and Personnel and Policy Committee.

The Commission has three (3) statutory functions:

1. To promote and secure mutual understanding and respect among all ethnic groups in Lexington-Fayette County and act as conciliator in controversies involving inter-group and inter-racial relations;
2. Cooperate with Federal, State and other local agencies in the efforts to develop harmonious inter-group and inter-racial relations and shall endeavor to enlist support of civic, religious, laborer, and commercial groups and leaders dedicated to the improvement of human relations and the elimination of discriminatory practices; and
3. Receive complaints, conduct investigations, hold hearings and make studies as will able the Commission to carry out the purposes of the Kentucky Civil Rights Act.

The Commission is most noted for its investigative function. The Commission's staff conducts about 300 individual investigations of complaints of unlawful discrimination a year in the areas of employment, housing and public accommodations. About 80% of our investigations are employment related with race being the largest single basis of allegations. The Commission has contracts to conduct Title VII, ADEA and ADA investigations in Lexington-Fayette County with Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and to conduct Title VIII housing investigations for U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

In addition to the above, the Commission has an active community relations program. The Commission's staff has a wide range of informational and educational programs individually designed for an employer, housing provider or the general public. These programs include topics such as sexual harassment, how to answer a complaint, fair housing, real estate sales, ADA, conflict resolution, prejudice reduction, and can also be customized to fit individual needs.

The Commission meets the third Monday of each month at 5:30 p.m. in different locations. Each meeting is held in a different council district. Meetings are open to the public. Date, time and location subject to change and can be found in the events section of this website.