Request By:
Mr. John L. Wiler, Jr.
14 Sycamore Avenue
Winchester, Kentucky 40391
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: Walter C. Herdman, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
This is in answer to your letter of November 29 in which you seek an opinion concerning the legality of a county employee or a regular county deputy sheriff to campaign for an elected office without taking a leave of absence. You also question the right of such employees to campaign in county vehicles and on county time.
Unless the county employee is under a civil service program that prohibits covered employees from engaging in political activity, which would include running for public office [see Louisville Lodge No. 6 Fraternal Order of Police v. Burton, Ky., 518 S.W.2d 777 (1975)], there would be no legal restriction on county employees running for public office while retaining their position as a county employee. The same conclusion would equally apply to a deputy sheriff.
On the other hand, county employees, including a deputy sheriff, should not use county vehicles for the purpose of campaigning and should restrict their campaigning to after office hours. This matter should be controlled by the fiscal court.