Request By:
Mr. Arnold Turner, Jr.
Floyd County Attorney
Prestonsburg, Kentucky 41653
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By: Charles W. Runyan, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
Your fiscal court desires to have the elected constables in your four (4) districts become more active in law enforcement. They feel that blue lights on their vehicles, as well as sirens, would be most valuable to them.
You seek our opinion as to whether or not, under current law, the fiscal court can pass an ordinance to authorize duly elected constables to place blue lights and sirens upon their cars to be used in the performance of their statutory duties.
The Court of Appeals, in Commonwealth v. Bradley, Ky., 516 S.W.2d 644 (1974), specifically held that constables may not use blue flashing, blue revolving, or blue oscillating lights as a part of their motor vehicle equipment. They pointed out that there is no reference to a constable's vehicle or to the duties of a constable in KRS 189.920 to 189.950. Therefore, the vehicles of constables are not "emergency vehicles", as defined in KRS 189.910(1). In fact, the latter statute defines "emergency vehicles", as used in KRS 189.920 (blue lights and siren, etc.), as including only emergency vehicles of a fire department, the state police, a public police department, or sheriff's office, rescue squad, publicly owned vehicle used by a civil defense agency, ambulances, any vehicle commandeered by a police officer, or any motor vehicle used by a volunteer fireman etc. KRS 189.920(2) deals with the use of blue lights and siren on such defined "emergency vehicles."
Notwithstanding the need to enlist all peace officers in the battle against crime in the most effective ways, it is our opinion that the firscal court has no authority to pass an ordinance authorizing constables to use blue lights and sirens on their official vehicles.
While KRS 67.083(3)(u) provides that the fiscal court may pass ordinances relating to "provision of police and fire protection", the subject matter here relating to peace officer vehicular operations has indeed been preempted by the General Assembly in the enactment of KRS 189.910 and 189.920. There the failure to include the constable means exclusion. See Boswell's Exx v. Senn's Adm'r, 187 Ky. 473, 219 S.W. 803 (1920). Such an ordinance would be in conflict with the state law. See KRS 67.083 (6).
The matter of including constables in KRS 189.910 and 189.920 addresses itself to the General Assembly. They have simply chosen, so far, not to include constables.