Request By:
Honorable William Donnermeyer
Representative
State Capitol
Frankfort, Kentucky 40601
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By: Walter C. Herdman, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
This is in response to your letter of February 22, in which you refer to KRS 61.080(3) which prohibits a person from holding a county office and a municipal office at the same time. With this statute in mind you raise the question as to whether a person can be employed simultaneously as a County Director of Disaster Emergency Services and a fireman for a city located within the county. Our response to your question would be in the affirmative.
The position of County Director of Disaster Emergency Services, or, in other words, Civil Defense Director, appointed pursuant to KRS 39.415, has been held to be a county employee in OAG 63-273, copy attached. At the same time the position of city fireman has been held to be a city employee in OAG 66-469, copy attached, and in this respect we also cite KRS 83A.080(1) which is part of the new municipal code adopted in 1980. This statute provides in effect that a municipal office can only be created by ordinance following the terms of said section, which would have no application to city firemen.
Thus, since the two positions are mere forms of employment, the particular individual can legally hold both positions without creating an incompatible situation so long as he can perform the duties of both positions with care and ability, thereby avoiding a possible common law conflict, which is a question of fact that only the courts can determine.