Request By:
Mr. Philip D. McKenzie
Attorney at Law
P.O. Box 635
Grayson, Kentucky 41143
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By: Call Miller, Assistant Attorney General
You have requested an opinion of the Attorney General on a matter concerning the government of the City of Grayson, a fourth class city. You asked whether newly elected members of the City Council may hold a meeting after they have been certified to the office but before they have taken the oath of office and take action to abolish a certain position in the City and to create several new positions.
KRS 68.230 reads as follows:
"All city officers, including members of the city counsel, shall take office on the first Monday in January following their election or appointment. Any officer appointed by the city council shall be appointed by the council elected at the November election preceding the commencement of his term."
It is elementary that persons elected to the City Council can take no official action until they take office on the first Monday in January. Any meeting held before that date and before the taking of the oath of office by the newly elected members is clearly unofficial and therefore void. Whether the meeting is held in conformance with the Kentucky Open Meetings Law, KRS 61.805-61.850, is immaterial. Of course, any action taken by the Council after it has been duly installed in office must be taken in conformance with the Open Meetings Law and other applicable statutes.