Steve Arlinghaus was elected Kenton County Judge/Executive in November of 2010 with nearly 77% of the vote.  For the past 13 years, Steve and his wife Cathy have resided in Villa Hills, where they are members of St Joseph parish in Crescent Springs.  They are proud parents of 7 children, and 12 grandchildren.

Judge Arlinghaus previously served in local government as a City Councilman in Ft. Mitchell for 6 years and also served as a Kenton County Commissioner for 5 years prior to being elected to the County’s highest elected executive position.

Judge Arlinghaus is a small business owner.  Since 1990, he has owned and operated Arlinghaus Realty with offices in Kentucky and Ohio.  Steve graduated from Covington Catholic High School, and later received a Bachelor of Science degree from Northern Kentucky University where he majored in Political Science and Public Administration. 

In addition to Judge Arlinghaus’ public service, he has spent many years as an ardent volunteer with numerous organizations including Villa Madonna Academy, Covington Catholic High School, Blessed Sacrament Elementary / athletics, Beechwood PTA, Ft. Mitchell Spartans Youth football, Covington Holy Cross elementary and high schools to name a few.  Judge Arlinghaus’ family began working as volunteers about 1964 offering Christian service work to the less fortunate in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky.  Judge Arlinghaus and his family and friends continue this trend even today.

The biggest challenge facing Judge/Executive Arlinghaus during his 4 year term will be grappling with the $1.5 million dollar deficit spending budget he inherited from the previous county administration. 

Needless to say, it will be a daunting task to accomplish these goals, however Judge Arlinghaus is confident, and has vowed to balance the budget as difficult and painful as it may be in order to rein in the runaway expenditures of county government. 

Judge Arlinghaus vows to eliminate wasteful expenditures, including reorganizing county employment positions as needed to reduce and/or merge jobs, and thoroughly evaluate the county’s budget to identify other areas of waste.  Judge Arlinghaus will work diligently with other county officials, in particular the Judge Executives of Boone County and Campbell County to identify areas of cost sharing and/or merging of services where practical and possible to reduce the cost of services to the taxpayers.  A regional 911 dispatch system looms at the top of his list.  According to Judge Arlinghaus, “Everything is on the table.”