Request By:
Mr. Larry D. Noe
Attorney at Law
P.O. Box 15
Campbellsville, Kentucky 42718
Opinion
Opinion By: David L. Armstrong, Attorney General; Walter C. Herdman, Asst. Deputy Attorney General
This is in response to your letter of April 20 in which you have been asked to seek an opinion from this Office as to whether there exists any statutory prohibition that would prevent an employee of the Taylor County Hospital District, established pursuant to KRS 216.310 and related statutes, from becoming a candidate for the General Assembly.
Our response to your question would be in the negative. To begin with, the only statutory qualifications or disqualifications relate to members of the hospital board pursuant to KRS 216.327 which in no way prohibit or inhibit a member, for example, from becoming a candidate for a public office. Absent any statutory prohibition under the hospital district act with respect to officers or employees of the district, neither would there be any constitutional or statutory objection under Section 165 of the Constitution and KRS 61.080. A conflict or incompatibility, if any exists, does not occur until the assumption of the second office which is incompatible with the first office as provided in KRS 61.090.
Thus we see no objection to the administrator of the Taylor County Hospital District becoming a candidate for the state legislature or any other office assuming, of course, his candidacy does not interfere with the performance of his work which would be a matter for the board to determine. At the same time, if the board attempted to prohibit his candidacy or require him to take a leave of absence by regulation, we call your attention to the case of