Request By:
Mrs. E. L. Ryan, Jr.
Route 4, Branham Way
Mt. Washington, Kentucky 40047
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By: Walter C. Herdman, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
This is in response to your letter of January 18 concerning the filling of a vacancy in the office of city council by reason of the death of the individual elected to said office on December 1, 1981.
The death of the councilman in question automatically created a vacancy in the office as of the first Monday in January 1982, at which time the incoming council was authorized to fill said vacancy by appointment pursuant to KRS 83A.040(4) and (5). However, this statute also provides that if the vacancy is not filled within thirty days of its occurrence, the power to fill said vacancy is then vested in the Governor.
The person appointed to the council to fill the vacancy in question would hold office subject to the conditions prescribed in Section 152 of the Constitution which requires said vacancy to be filled at the next regular election that embraces the area in which the vacancy occurred, which, in this instance, would be the city. If there is no regular election in November 1982 embracing the city of Mt. Washington, such as a regular school board election or an election to fill one of the four positions on the Supreme Court, then the appointee will hold office throughout the remainder of the term, which would be through 1983. The next regular election of councilmen would of course occur in November 1983.