Request By:
Honorable Glen Shepherd
Mayor, City of Cumberland
402 W. Main Street
Cumberland, Kentucky 40823
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By: Walter C. Herdman, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
This is in answer to your letter of January 25 in which you raise the question as to whether or not a person can hold the position of city clerk-treasurer in a city of the fourth class and be employed as a police dispatcher in the city police department which is a civilian position without peace officer powers according to our phone conversation.
The position of city clerk-treasurer in a city of the fourth class constitutes a single municipal office since KRS 86.060 provides that the city may, pursuant to ordinance, confer the function of the city clerk of the council upon the treasurer to be performed in addition to the duties prescribed for the treasurer pursuant to KRS 92.060. The position of police dispatcher constitutes a form of municipal employment.
Section 165 of the Constitution and KRS 61.080 prohibit a person from holding two municipal offices at the same time; however, these sections do not prohibit a person from holding a municipal office, such as city clerk-treasurer, and at the same time municipal employment, such as the position of police dispatcher. As a consequence, no constitutional or statutory incompatibility or conflict of interest would exist.