06/30/26 – Burney Jenkins Inducted Into National High School Hall of Fame Class of 2026

June 30, 2026 2025-2026 News Releases

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 30, 2026

SALT LAKE CITY – One of Kentucky’s most decorated officials, Burney Jenkins has dedicated 50 years of his life to high school sports, serving as a referee, umpire and later as an assigning secretary – all “for the love of the game.” Last night in Salt Lake City, Jenkins joined the elite of the elite in the NFHS Hall of Fame.

During his officiating career, Jenkins has called six Kentucky High School Athletic Association (KHSAA) State Football Championships (three as referee), five KHSAA State Basketball Finals and five State Baseball Final Four Tournaments, in addition to countless college contests and a National Football League game in 2001.

As an undergraduate student at Georgetown College, Jenkins got into officiating as a way to make some extra money – a decision that would eventually develop into a lifetime career path. He began teaching at Georgetown Middle School after graduating, where he coached football for 28 years (18 as head coach). Urged by Principal George Lusby to get back into officiating, Jenkins returned to football officiating and took up baseball three years later.

In the years that followed, Jenkins went on to work nine regional tournaments, seven regional finals and seven state tournaments (five in basketball). Upon retiring from officiating, Jenkins spent six years as the JV Supervisor of Officials for the 10th and 11th Region before becoming the Supervisor of Officials for the 8th Region in 2001. 

Jenkins has been a licensed baseball umpire and football official for 51 years and a licensed basketball official for 48 years. In addition to the six state football finals, he has officiated state football playoff games in 34 of his 51 years. 

In 2003-04, he was honored with the KHSAA Supervisor of the Year award and was inducted into the Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame as an official later that year, having worked 31 regional tournaments, 15 state sectionals and five state tournaments (four championship finals). In 2013, Jenkins was inducted into the DAWAHARES/Kentucky High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame as a sports official. In 2020, he was selected the KHSAA Outstanding Football Official of the Year.

In addition to officiating games at the high school level, Jenkins has been a longtime collegiate official in football and basketball for several conferences, including the Ohio Valley, Gulf-South and Mid-South. He has officiated six NAIA National Football Playoffs and the NAIA Men’s Basketball Tournament for eight years, as well as 10 NCAA Division I-AA National Playoff games, and the Football Championship Series (FCS) National Championship game in 2009.

Jenkins, who obtained his master’s degree from Georgetown College in 1981, worked at the Scott County Schools for 44 years in various capacities before retiring in 2022. Shortly thereafter he was elected mayor of Georgetown, the sixth-largest city in the state and is finishing his first term and seeking a second term. 

“As a supervisor and a teacher, Jenkins always strived to instill in others his beliefs that integrity, honesty and trustworthiness are the cornerstones of officiating, and that every game should be treated like a state championship,” said Julian Tackett, KHSAA commissioner. “He teaches others to rely on the abilities they are blessed with, while maintaining humility at all times.”

Jenkins joins 11 other Kentuckians in the NFHS Hall of Fame.

*Cliff Hagan, Athlete (Class of 1988)
*Paul Hornung, Athlete (Class of 1989)
*William Kean, Coach (Class of 1993)
*Geri Grigsby, Athlete (Class of 1993)
*Garnis Martin, Coach (Class of 1994)
*S.T. Roach, Coach (Class of 1996)
*Charles Ruter, Official (Class of 2001)
*Louis Stout, Administrator (Class of 2006)
*Jerry Kimmel, Official (Class of 2013)
*Tim Couch, Athlete (Class of 2021)
*Ron Kordes, Coach (Class of 2023)
*Burney Jenkins, Official (Class of 2026)

About the Kentucky High School Athletic Association

The Kentucky High School Athletic Association was organized in 1917 and is the agency designated by the Kentucky Department of Education to manage high school athletics in the Commonwealth. The Association is a voluntary nonprofit 501(c)3 organization made up of 284 member schools, both public and non-public. The KHSAA awards 215 state championships to 51 teams and 164 individuals in 13 sports and six sport-activities, funds catastrophic insurance coverage for its more than 106,000 rostered member school student-athletes, provides coaching education and sports safety programs for more than 12,000 coaches and licenses and facilitates the distribution of training material for over 4,000 contest officials.

 

 

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