Department of Corrections
Appel Promoted to Cabinet’s Director of Personnel

Stephanie Appel has been promoted to Director of Personnel for the Justice & Public Safety Cabinet. Appel’s promotion was effective May 16th.

In her new role, Appel will help the Justice Cabinet manage union relations, furloughs, KHRIS (Kentucky Human Resource Information System), and uniform personnel policies. She will oversee all of the Cabinet’s departmental personnel managers.

Although Appel has been promoted and her office location is on Holmes Street, at the Justice Cabinet’s Central Office on the second floor, she will continue to be the Department’s Director of Personnel and the primary contact for personnel issues.

“Stephanie Appel has been directly involved in the KHRIS project since its inception and has done an excellent job,” said Corrections Commissioner LaDonna Thompson. “This move to the Cabinet level is a natural progression with the work she has done.”

Two other key DOC Division of Personnel staff have also been promoted: Amanda Coulter has been promoted to Executive Staff Advisor and Bobbie Underwood has been promoted to Human Resources Branch Manager for the Department. Coulter and Underwood also made the move to the Justice Cabinet Central Offices but remain DOC employees. They will provide guidance and oversight to the Cabinet on KHRIS and other Personnel technical issues as well as support Appel in her new position.

“It has been a big change for us, in regard to the office move, but that’s really all that’s different. Our job duties are still the same,” said Appel. It is an honor for us to have been promoted but we want to stress to our DOC family that we are still doing the same thing for them that we always have!”

Appel began her career in 1995 in the Finance and Administration Cabinet where she worked until coming to the Department of Corrections, Division of Personnel in June 2000.  She has held such positions as Personnel Management Specialist III, Personnel Administrator, Personnel Branch Manager, Assistant Director and Director of Personnel.

During her 11 years with the Department of Corrections, Appel has overseen the implementation of new personnel systems; assisted with opening of Little Sandy Correctional Complex; has helped streamline personnel processes; and has regionalized the personnel services in Oldham and Shelby Counties.  Her accomplishments have helped gain the respect of agency personnel throughout the Commonwealth for herself as well as the Cabinet as a whole.

Appel has played a key agency liaison role for Justice and Public Safety Cabinet throughout the KHRIS process and continues to participate as the Agency Implementation Lead for the Justice & Public Safety Cabinet. She also serves as the Cabinet’s representative at the HR Consortium Meetings with the Personnel Cabinet Secretary as well as being a long time member of the Personnel Council. Appel also serves as the Lead Negotiator for Union Negotiations with AFSCME Unit D, AFSCME Unit G and United Auto Workers (UAW) Unit A.

Additionally, Appel is a long-time member of the International Public Management Association for Human Resources (IPMA-HR) and has held many elected offices, both in Kentucky as well as for the Southern Region of IPMA-HR, to include President of the Kentucky Chapter and Treasurer of the Southern Region.  In 2009, she was elected as the Southern Region’s President-Elect for IPMA-HR. This is a six year commitment, as she will serve two years each as President-Elect, President, and Immediate Past President. She obtained the IPMA-CP designation, declaring her a ‘Certified Professional’ in Human Resources and Public Management. After her 2009 recertification, she remained the only active Kentucky State Government employee to earn this designation.

Appel is a member of the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) and the American Correctional Association (ACA).   She attended Midway College and the University of Kentucky and holds a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration.

Coulter worked in the private sector in the human resources field for approximately eight years before coming to work for state government. She initially worked for the Transportation Cabinet before joining the Department of Corrections Division of Personnel Services six years ago. Underwood began her career with the Department of Corrections in 2005 at Blackburn Correctional Complex in the Human Resources Office. Ten months later she joined the Department’s Personnel Services Division.

To reach Appel, Coulter and Underwood call: Stephanie Appel, 564-1355; Amanda Coulter, 564-1354 and Bobbie Underwood, 564-1353; or email them at: Stephanie.Appel@ky.gov; AmandaH.Coulter@ky.gov; or BobbieM.Underwood@ky.gov