Request By:
Honorable Oliver L. Hunt
Police Judge, City of Marion
108 E. Bellville Street
Marion, Kentucky 42064
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: Walter C. Herdman, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
This is in answer to your letter of August 8 in which you raise the following questions concerning the office of police judge in a city of the fourth class:
"1. If the City Judge resigns from office who does he submit the resignation to.
"2. Who will appoint his replacement.
"3. Can the Pro Tem Judge finish out the term without a replacement being appointed. "
In response to your first two questions, the police judge must hand in his resignation to the city council pursuant to KRS 86.240 since this body is authorized to fill such a vacancy. The resignation must be tendered in writing and received, accepted and recorded in the legislative records of the council before it becomes effective. See KRS 63.010.
Following the acceptance of the resignation, the city council is then authorized, as previously indicated, to fill the vacancy; in this case, for the unexpired term ending in January, 1978. As you know, of course, at that time the office of city judge is abolished pursuant to the passage of the Judicial Article in the form of a constitutional amendment.
Our response to your third question would be in the negative. KRS 26.260 vests in the police judge the exclusive authority to appoint a pro tem judge and, as a consequence, when the judge resigns, dies or is removed, the authority vested in the pro tem judge ceases to exist and he cannot continue thereafter to act either as pro tem judge or succeed to the office of judge unless, of course, he is appointed to fill the vacancy. See 63 Am.Jur. 2d, Public Officers and Employees, § 483; and McQuillin, Municipal Corporations, Vol. 3, § 12.33.