Request By:
Mr. William Engle, III
Attorney at Law
Main Street
P.O. Box 831
Hazard, Kentucky 41701
Opinion
Opinion By: David L. Armstrong, Attorney General; Walter C. Herdman, Asst. Deputy Attorney General
This is in response to your letter of December 14 in which you on behalf of the Hazard Board of Education pose the following question:
"Is the position of member of the local board of education incompatible with a position as an instructor at the Hazard Area Vocational School?"
Our response to your question would be in the negative. Upon discussing the status of the Hazard Area Vocational School with the state Department of Education, we understand it is state operated and the employees including instructors are appointed through the state Personnel Board after proper certification. This of course means that an instructor is an employee of the state and not an employee of the local board of education.
The Constitution, Section 165, and KRS 61.080 do not prohibit a person from holding a state office, such as membership on the local board of education, and state employment at the same time unless the duties are incompatible which would not appear to be the case in this instance since the local board would have no control over the appointment of the instructor. See Coleman v. Hurst, 227 Ky. 501, 11 S.W.2d 133 (1928).
Under the circumstances we see no conflict or incompatibility occurring were an instructor at the Hazard Area Vocational School elected to the Hazard board of education or vice versa unless, of course, the individual cannot perform the duties of both positions at the same time with care and ability which involves a common law conflict of interest and which can only be determined by litigating the factual situation.