Request By:
Mr. Gordon R. True
Vice Chairman
Grant County School Board
Corinth, Kentucky 41010
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: Robert L. Chenoweth, Assistant Attorney General
As the Vice Chairman of the Grant County Board of Education you have asked the Office of the Attorney General for an opinion on two questions. You ask whether the chairman of the school board has the right to make or second a motion at a school board meeting. In addition you have asked whether in the situation where there has been a resignation from the board, the chairman has the right to demand of a prospective appointee how that person will vote on any issue if appointed.
In response to your first question we have dispositively answered it in a prior opinion. In OAG 75-517, copy attached, we stated:
"Just as the chairperson is included for purposes of determining a quorum, so is that person eligible to cast a vote upon a measure and upon which a board question may be passed or defeated. There is no statutory authority for a proposition that the designated chair-person of the board while presiding at all meetings is disqualified to vote upon a measure or is to do so only in the case of a tie. All present members of a board of education stand as equals, sharing the same rights and responsibilities to carry out the business of the board." (Emphasis added.)
See also OAG 65-653, copy attached, and KRS 160.270. Therefore, we believe the chairman of the school board has the right to make or second a motion at a school board meeting.
It is our opinion concerning your second question that neither the chairman of the school board or any other member may attempt to condition the appointment of an individual to fill a vacancy on a school board pursuant to KRS 160.190 on how that individual will vote on particular issues coming before the board. Such a practice is very closely aligned to one explicitly prohibited by statute, namely, KRS 121.055, which states in pertinent part as follows:
"No such candidate shall promise, agree or make a contract with any person to vote for or support any particular individual, thing or measure, in consideration for the vote or the financial or moral support of that person in any election, primary or nominating convention, and no person shall demand that any candidate make such a promise, agreement or contract."
Enclosed is a photocopy of this statutory provision.