Request By:
Mr. John C. Greenwell
Uniontown City Judge
P.O. Box 548
Uniontown, Kentucky 42461
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: Charles W. Runyan, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
The city of Uniontown [population: 1300] has one city owned police vehicle. The city police are using their private vehicles to patrol and give traffic citations. You ask for our opinion as to whether this is legal. Uniontown is a fifth class city.
If these are regular city policemen of a duly established city police department organized pursuant to KRS 95.700, then they are peace officers and can issue citations under KRS 431.015. And they can either use the city's vehicle to patrol and issue citations or they can use their private cars. There is no statute prohibiting such peace officer from using a privately owned vehicle in his official work.