Request By:
Mr. Mark E. Mader
Administrative Assistant
Office of the Governor
Frankfort, Kentucky
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By: Charles W. Runyan, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
You request our opinion as to the legality of appointments. The facts were given as follows:
"We need an opinion from you regarding the legality of an appointee, such as Lois Mateus, Commissioner of the Department of Public Information, serving as a member of the Kentucky Heritage Commission, ex-officio or otherwise; also of the Kentucky Historic Preservation Review Commission.
"There are no salaries involved in either, and the Governor would like to appoint Ms. Mateus because of her interest in the preservation field."
As Commissioner of the Department of Public Information and as a member of the Kentucky Heritage Commission or the Kentucky Historic Preservation Review Board, she would be holding three state offices. See KRS 171.381 and 171.384. The Heritage Commission is dedicated to the preservation and protection of all meaningful vestiges of Kentucky's heritage. The Historic Preservation Review Board is required to aid and advise the Kentucky Heritage Commission in the selection of historic sites.
We find no constitutional nor statutory incompatibility in holding these offices. See § 165, Kentucky Constitution, and KRS 61.080. Also see Polley v. Fortenberry, 268 Ky. 369, 105 S.W.2d 143 (1937) 144.
The residual question is whether any practical or common law incompatibility would exist. Offices are said to be incompatible when from the multiplicity of business they cannot be executed with care and ability; or when, their being subordinate and interfering with each other, it induces a presumption that they cannot be executed with impartiality and honesty. Hermann v. Lampe, 175 Ky. 109, 194 S.W. 122 (1917) 126.
In summary, we see no constitutional, statutory, nor common law incompatibility in connection with these offices.