Request By:
Mr. J. H. "Joe" Sams
P.O. Box 187
Corbin, Kentucky 40701
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: Walter C. Herdman, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
This is in answer to your letter of March 8 in which you relate that you are employed with the state highway department under the merit system and are contemplating becoming a candidate either for the office of mayor or commissioner of the city of Corbin, or the office of magistrate in Knox County. You desire to know whether or not under the circumstances you can become a candidate for any of the abovementioned offices.
As a member of the state merit system you are governed by the provisions of KRS 18.310 (4), which reads as follows:
"No employe in the classified service shall be a member of any national, state, or local committee of a political party, or an officer or member of a committee of a partisan political club, or a candidate for nomination or election to any paid public office, or shall take part in the management or affairs of any political party or in any political campaign, except to exercise his right as a citizen privately to express his opinion and to cast his vote. Officers or employes of the classified service may be candidates for and occupy a town or school district office if the office is one for which no compensation, other than a per diem payment, is provided and the election is on a nonpartisan basis."
You will note that the above statute prohibits merit employes from becoming candidates for the nomination or election to any paid public office except those offices involving cities and school districts that are filled on a nonpartisan basis and for which no compensation is paid, other than a perdiem.
The office of mayor or city commissioner of the city of Corbin is filled on a nonpartisan basis, however, compensation [other than a per diem] is attached to the office and, as a consequence, a merit employe could not become a candidate for either position with the city. The office of magistrate is of course a county office and likewise does not qualify as one of the exceptions under the merit statute. As a consequence, you could not become a candidate for this office and retain your merit status.