Request By:
Mr. Paul Owhadi
City Administrator
City of Ludlow
231 Elm Street
Ludlow, Kentucky 41016
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: Walter C. Herdman, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
This is in answer to your letter of September 19 in which you relate that the city of Ludlow cannot financially afford to require its regular police officers to patrol on special occasions football games, parades, etc. As a result, the question is raised concerning the establishment of an auxiliary police force for this purpose. In connection with this you desire to know whether an auxiliary policeman will be authorized to carry a weapon and possess the power of arrest.
Every city of the second through sixth class is authorized to establish an auxiliary police force pursuant to KRS 95.445, which reads as follows:
"The legislative body of a city of the second, third, fourth, fifth, or sixth class or urban-county government, except a city of the fifth or sixth class in a county containing a first-class city, may be ordinance provide for the establishment or abolishment of an auxiliary police force to perform special duties within the city on terms it deems proper. The ordinance shall prescribe the number of officers and men of such force and the manner of their appointment, and rules and regulations governing the powers and duties of members of such force."
Under the above statute, the city of Ludlow can create pursuant to ordinance an auxiliary police force, the members of which will possess the same powers as regular policemen, including the power of arrest and the right to carry a weapon. Auxiliary policemen would thus have the powers of peace officers which are not, of course, limited to the time that they are on regular duty. Once they have been duly appointed and have taken the oath, they become policemen and peace officers as long as they remain on the force.
In McQuillin, Mun. Corps., Vol. 16, § 45.15, it is pointed out that special policemen or deputies have the same powers as regular policemen unless their powers are expressly limited by statute or ordinance. Referring to § 45.18 the rule is cited that deputy police officers have the same power of arrest as is conferred on policemen who are regularly employed by the city.
You next raise the question as to whether or not a member of the city council can serve at the same time as an auxiliary policeman at the annual salary of one dollar ($1).
Our response to the above question would be in the negative. No person can hold at the same time two (2) municipal offices as this is prohibited under § 165 of the Constitution and KRS 61.080. Of course, a member of the city council is a municipal officer and a member of the auxiliary police force having the same powers as a regular policeman is also a municipal officer.
City of Lexington v. Rennick, 105 Ky. 779, 49 S.W. 787 (1899). We might add that compensation is not a factor in determining whether or not the two offices are incompatible, one with the other.
You next relate that the ordinances of the city are being drafted by the city attorney at considerable costs and raise the question as to whether or not the city could adopt a model ordinance used by other communities without the city attorney's approval.
Municipal ordinances are not required to be approved by the city attorney. However, the drafting of ordinances is extremely technical in nature which necessitates the experience of an expert in the field with at least some legal experience. If you are referring to the recodification of the ordinances, there are firms throughout the county that specialize in this field. There are of course model ordinances on various subjects available to every city through the Kentucky Municipal League which is located on the campus of the University of Kentucky in Lexington. We should caution you however that model ordinances must be revised to fit the particular city's need and are generally utilized more or less for proper form and certain basic contents involving a particular subject of interest to the city.