Request By:
Ms. Helen Howard Hughes
Executive Director
Kentucky Commission on Women
105 Bridge Street
Frankfort, Kentucky 40601
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: Ruth H. Baxter, Assistant Attorney General
This letter is in response to your recent question to the Attorney General:
Is it a conflict of interest for an appointed member of the Kentucky Commission to contract with that agency to receive a $55,556 grant awarded to the Commission from the Kentucky Crime Commission and the Department of Justice to conduct a statewide victimization study?
It is our opinion that a conflict of interest would exist in this matter by virtue of KRS 61.094 and KRS 61.096.
Specifically, KRS 61.096(7) states that, "No officer, employe or appointee of an agency, including persons who serve without salary or other payment for their services, shall knowingly receive or agree to receive, directly or indirectly, compensation for any services rendered or to be rendered either by himself or another, in any cause, proceeding, application or other matter which is before said agency or before the department of state government in which said agency functions." Inasmuch as "agency" is defined in KRS 61.094 to include commissions such as the Kentucky Commission on Women, one must conclude that KRS 61.096(7) directly applies to the appointed members of the Commission. Accordingly, the statute establishes the conflict of interest for the question you posed. See also OAG 70-55.