Request By:
Colonel O. J. Johnson
Chief of Police
505 Commonwealth Avenue
Erlanger, Kentucky 41018
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; Walter C. Herdman, Asst. Deputy Attorney General
This is in response to your letter of January 4 in which you raise the question as to whether or not a conflict of interest or incompatibility exists where an auxiliary police officer of the city of Erlanger is at the same time a full-time Instructor-Coordinator of the Department of Training at Eastern Kentucky University.
Our response to your question would be in the negative. An auxiliary police officer of a city, a position which is presumably established under KRS 95.445, has the same powers as a regular police officer, that of arrest and the right to carry a weapon and is, therefore, considered a municipal officer as pointed out in OAG 67-554, copy attached. On the other hand, the position of Instructor-Coordinator for a department at Eastern Kentucky University would at most be considered a form of state employment. Eastern Kentucky University is, of course, a state agency and its employees are therefore state employees. Neither Section 165 of the Constitution nor KRS 61.080 prohibits a state employee from holding a municipal office. Also, the fact that an auxiliary police officer is not generally considered a full-time position as indicated in KRS 95.445 would eliminate the possibility of a common-law conflict where, for example, the individual could not perform the duties of both positions at the same time with care and ability. However, possible common-law conflicts of interest are questions for the courts to determine.