Request By:
Honorable Mose Dodson
Mayor, City of Tompkinsville
Third & Magnolia
Tompkinsville, Kentucky 42167
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By: Walter C. Herdman, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
This is in answer to your letter of February 13 in which you raise the following questions regarding nonpartisan elections for municipal offices in cities of the fifth class:
"1. Under a fifth class city non-partisan elections, what is the deadline for filing for the office of Mayor?
"2. Under the same non-partisan election, what is the deadline for filing for city council?
"3. To simplify this letter, my main question is, does the Mayor and City Council file before the May 1981 primary election or the main election in November 1981?"
In response to your questions, if the city of Tompkinsville elects, by ordinance, to adopt the nonpartisan primary procedure outlined in KRS 83A.170 not later than March 9, which is 240 days before the November election, all candidates for city office [which includes the mayor and members of the city council] must file a petition not later than April 1, 1981 for nomination in this special nonpartisan city primary. Those nominated will be listed on the November ballot and, we might add, that only those persons so nominated can be elected to office.
On the other hand, if the city does not adopt the special non-partisan city primary procedure, it will operate as it has in the past under the general election laws which prohibit candidates for membership on the city legislative body from being nominated in the regular May party primary. See KRS 118.105 (4). In other words, they must file an independent petition pursuant to KRS 118.315 as they have been doing in the past and file such petitions with the county clerk not later than September 9 pursuant to KRS 118.365 (4). Candidates for mayor would, on the other hand, under KRS 118.105 (4) have the option of either being nominated in the regular May primary or filing an independent petition not later than September 9. See KRS 118.365 (4).
Those candidates filing independent petitions, both for council and mayor, would then be listed on the November ballot in a single vertical column, by lot, and below the office they seek, which is also a non-partisan procedure, since no independent party designation can be placed opposite the candidate's name. See KRS 118.215 (3).