On the Beat in the Bluegrass

By Brandon Ortiz
bortiz@herald-leader.com

Henry Earl is going to rehab.

Well, maybe.

Earl, the Lexington homeless man whose been arrested more than 1,000 times for alcohol intoxication, was given two years’ probation for his latest arrest.

Fayette District Judge Megan Lake Thornton urged Earl, nicknamed James Brown, to go into a treatment program at the Hope Center, but Earl is under no obligation to do so.

Henry Earl

However, Earl, 58, told his attorney, Stephen Gray McFayden, that he wants help. He’s scheduled to be released from the Fayette County jail Thursday afternoon. Earl has told his attorney that he will call him to take Earl to the Hope Center.

Earl has been through rehab at least twice — most recently, last year.

The last time Earl was able to go two consecutive years without getting arrested was in the mid-1970s, according to jail records provided to thesmokinggun.com.

Thornton has made it a priority to get Earl into treatment for alcoholism. But even she had doubts Thursday when she told Earl that he would serve a 90-day jail sentence if he’s arrested again.

“I don’t know how that’s going to work,” Thornton said. “But when, and if — and I’m assuming its when — you came back here (to court), its going to be reassigned to me until you finish this process.”

Earl was offered the plea deal because a Hope Center treatment program in jail lasts four months. The maximum that Earl can serve for alcohol intoxication is 90 days, so Thornton could not force Earl to complete the program.

The judge is “really cheering for him,” McFayden said. “I am cheering for Henry. The community is. Henry has more fans than you could imagine.”

McFayden said that Earl is thankful that Thornton is taking an interest in him. Earl had planned to thank her Thursday but was apparently too nervous, the lawyer said.

“He feels that Judge Thornton is actually genuine in her intent to help him,” McFayden said.

For the first four months Earl would be in an inpatient program at the Hope Center. The second phase would help him transition into living on his own.

But Earl can walk away at any time.

“That was a concern for every party,” McFayden said.

Earl has gotten attention lately after an Internet site erroneously reported that Earl was arrested for the 1,000th time. The report was based on jail records going back to 1992.

Actually — as the Herald-Leader reported in 2005 — his arrests far exceeded that, but nobody had tallied up his arrests because the jail did not have electronic records before 1992.

But the Smoking Gun, through open records requests, determined that Earl has been arrested 1,333 times.

Earl is an Internet celebrity, even though he told a reporter in 2005 that he’s never actually used the Internet. He became famous after the humor Web site Fark.com began posting his mug shots and tracking his arrests.

Other Web sites devoted solely to Henry Earl have sprung up, including one that purports to have real-time stats of his arrests.

Reach Brandon Ortiz at (859) 231-1443 or 1-800-950-6397, Ext. 1443.

• Click HERE to read previous entries about Henry Earl
• Click HERE to see Earl’s mug shots