The deputy warden of the Kentucky State Reformatory (KSR) was charged with driving under the influence (DUI) early this morning in Buckner.

Courtesy of the Oldham County Detention Center Buy this photo

Oldham County Police say that Jesse Stack, 38, nearly struck an officer’s vehicle head-on while driving in the wrong lane on Highway 146 at approximately 3:02 a.m.

The officer said he could smell alcohol on Stack's breath.

Stack allegedly told police that he drank two beers at a friend’s house in Jefferson County and that he wasn’t paying attention because he was on his phone.

During a field sobriety test, Stack told the officer that “he had a health condition making it difficult to blow a large volume of air,” according to the arrest citation.

The test read “deficient with alcohol” according to the document. He was then transported to Baptist Health La Grange, where he refused a blood test.

Stack began working at KSR in 2003 as a correctional officer and has worked his way up through the ranks, according to the Department of Correction’s website.

He was promoted to program administrator for the department’s training division in January, according to the Department of Correction’s website.

Stack is also the former public information officer for Luther Luckett Correctional Complex.

He will be released on his own recognizance, according to officials with the Oldham County Detention Center.

The Oldham Era has reached out to the Department of Corrections for comment.