Request By:
Captain Sam Tucker
Legal Advisor
Department of Public Safety
Jefferson County Police Headquarters
Hall of Justice
600 West Jefferson Street
Louisville, Kentucky 40202
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: Walter C. Herdman, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
This is in answer to your letter of August 1 in which you raise the question as to whether or not an incompatibility exists where Detective Vernon Johnson of the Jefferson County Police Department has been appointed by the Governor to serve as a member of the Local Government Statute Revision Commission created by House Resolution 79 of the 1978 General Assembly.
The creation of a Local Government Statute Revision Commission by Joint Resolution 79, found under Ch. 425 of the 1978 Acts, would indicate that said Commission is an agency of the state established to study and review the laws pertaining to units of local government. Under this chapter the Commission is composed of 32 members appointed by the Governor to serve for a period of two (2) years. The Commission is funded by state appropriation and is required to report periodically to the Legislative Research Commission and the Governor with recommendations for statute revision in the field of local government. The Commission is also attached to the State Department for Local Government for administrative purposes.
Regarding the membership of the Commission, it is noted that the legislature has made provision for the appointment of elected county officials to the Commission but we find no provision for the appointment of county officials such as a member of the Jefferson County Police Department established under KRS 70.540, et seq. Section 4 of the Act reads as follows:
"Section 4. The Governor, on or before July 1, 1978, shall appoint a local government statute revisioin commission composed of thirty-two (32) members as follows:
"(1) Eight (8) elected county officials, six (6) of whom shall be appointed from a list of at least twelve (12) nominees submitted by the Kentucky Association of Counties;
"(2) Eight (8) elected city officials, six (6) of whom shall be appointed from a list of at least twelve (12) nominees submitted by the Kentucky Municipal League;
"(3) Eight (8) private citizens;
"(4) Two (2) representatives of area development districts appointed from a list of six (6) nominees submitted by the Kentucky Council of Area Development Districts;
"(5) Six (6) members of the Kentucky General Assembly including:
"(a) The chairmen of the house committees having jurisdiction over counties and cities;
"(b) The chairmen of the senate committees having jurisdiction over counties and cities;
"(c) One (1) additional member selected by the speaker of the house and one (1) additional member selected by the president pro tempore of the senate."
It is clear that the legislature intends that the Commission consist, as we mentioned previously, in part of elected local officials [city and county] who would serve in effect as ex officio members during their term of office or at least while they are serving as elected officials. This would not in our opinion create an incompatible situation, particularly as they serve without compensation and would, in effect, be merely performing the duties of another office. Reference OAG 66-586.
However, as we said previously, we find nothing under Section 4 which authorizes the Governor to select for membership a county official who is appointed to office rather than elected. Neither could he qualify for appointment as a private citizen member. As a consequence, regardless of the official nature of the Commission, it would not appear that Detective Johnson could qualify to serve as a member of the Commission under Section 4 of the Act.