Request By:
Mr. Sidney Phillips
Jailer, Pike County
Courthouse
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 December 31 in which you relate that you will assume the duties of the office of jailer on January 2, 1978 and that you would like to employ a Mrs. Tackett as your bookkeeper and payroll clerk who is presently employed in the office of the county court clerk. She will perform these for you after her regular hours in the clerk's office and on weekends. Under the circumstances, you desire to know whether or not any incompatibility would exist with respect to such dual employment.
Our response to your question would be in the negative as there is no constitutional or statutory provision prohibiting a person from holding positions of employment in two county offices nor is there any prohibition against a county officer holding another form of county employment if, for example in this case, Mrs. Tackett holds the appointment of deputy county court clerk.
There is always a possibility of a common law conflict where the duties of both positions cannot be performed with care and ability; however, under the facts related, this situation would not exist in our opinion.