Request By:
Mr. Lawrence R. Webster
Attorney at Law
First National Bank Building
Pikeville, Kentucky 41501
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: Walter C. Herdman, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
This is in answer to your letter of October 14 in which you raise the question as to whether or not a member of the county board of elections can at the same time serve as a member of the Urban Renewal and Community Development Agency created pursuant to KRS Chapter 99.
This office has taken the position over the years that members of county boards of election are county officers, reference OAG 62-390. On the other hand, a member of an urban renewal and development agency, if it is not operated by the city and is established as a separate corporate body pursuant to KRS 99.360, is neither a state, city or county agency in the sense that is referred to in Section 165 of the Constitution and KRS 61.080 relating to incompatible offices. See OAG 72-589 (copy attached). This being the case, there would exist no incompatibility where a member of the county board of elections serves on the urban renewal agency.
On the other hand, if the city is operating the agency, which it may do as an alternative pursuant to KRS 99.350, then we believe that an incompatible situation would exist because the urban renewal agency member would be considered a municipal officer. As you know, the referred to sections of the Constitution and statutes prohibit a person from holding a municipal office and a county office at the same time.