Request By:
Mr. R. Michael Yates
Attorney at Law
P.O. Box 433
207 Commercial Avenue
Fulton, Kentucky 42041
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: Walter C. Herdman, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
This is in answer to your letter of February 2 in which you raise the question as to whether or not a conflict of interest would exist where a city commissioner of a city of the fourth class serves as port manager at a riverport.
We assume your reference to a riverport relates to a riverport authority created pursuant to the terms of KRS 65.510 to KRS 65.650. Such authority has been declared to be an independent governmental agency which is not a state, county or city agency contemplated under § 165 of the Constitution or KRS 61.080 as held in OAG 77-101, a copy of which we are attaching. It is also noted that members of the riverport authority are appointed by the mayor where the city is involved and, in turn, such appointed members hire employees of the authority. See KRS 65.540 and KRS 65.570.
Since the riverport authority is an independent agency from that of the city, no incompatibility would exist between the two positions in question under the terms of § 165 of the Constitution and KRS 61.080. Neither would there appear to be any common law conflict of interest since the city commission has no voice in the appointment of not only the members of the authority but its employees. As a consequence, we believe that a city commissioner could at the same time serve as manager of the riverport authority.