Kentucky Justice Secretary John Tilley on Friday praised Cockerell's commitment to public safety and his compassion for youth.
Cockerell was commissioner of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services from 2005 until he retired in 2008.
Three months before his retirement, Cockerell's agency seized 468 children during a raid of the Yearning for Zion Ranch, a West Texas complex that was home to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
The Texas Supreme Court later ruled the agency improperly removed children from their families.
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