Request By:
Honorable Alva A. Hollon, Jr.
Attorney at Law
Adams Building
Box 779
Hazard, Kentucky 41701
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: Robert L. Chenoweth, Assistant Attorney General
As legal counsel for the Perry County Board of Education you have requested an advisory opinion from the Office of the Attorney General regarding a possible conflict of interest for the newly elected superintendent of the Perry County Schools. The question of possible conflict centers around the fact that the superintendent-elect is the president of the Perry County Farm Bureau which is a nonsalaried position but for which travel pay per month is allotted. The other position is one as a supervisor of the Perry County Conservation District, which position provides travel pay of $15.00 per month. You noted that your chief concern was the conservation district position.
Before turning to the statutes, it is necessary to first characterize all of the positions involved. The position of local superintendent of schools is a state office pursuant to KRS 160.350 and as held in a number of cases, among them being
Whitley County Board of Education v. Rose, 267 Ky. 283, 102 S.W.2d 28 (1937), and
Board of Education of Graves County v. DeWeese, Ky., 343 S.W.2d 598 (1960). The position of supervisor of a soil and water conservation district is held pursuant to KRS 262.200 and 262.240. The Attorney General's Office in prior opinions has concluded that a soil and water conservation district is a separate governmental subdivision of the state, a public body corporate and politic and does not constitute a municipality, county or agency of state government. See OAG 71-230, copy attached. The position with the farm bureau organization is not governmental in nature.
As you expressed in your letter, KRS 61.080(1) must be considered, which reads as follows:
"(1) No person shall, at the same time, be a state officer, a deputy state officer or a member of the general assembly, and an officer of any county, city or other municipality, or an employe thereof."
From the characterization of the positions above it is clear there will not exist any statutory conflict of interest nor any conflict under Kentucky Constitution Section 165. See again OAG 71-230, supra.
There is one additional section of law that must be considered. KRS 160.390(2) reads in pertinent part as follows:
"(2) The superintendent shall devote himself exclusively to his duties."
While we do not believe this statute can be construed to prohibit or even necessarily curtail the non-school related activities of a local superintendent of schools, cf. OAG 65-848, copy attached, it does serve to point out the fact that the responsibilities associated with the positions of being farm bureau president and a supervisor of a conservation district could possibly, if not well managed, create a function incompatibility with the responsibilities attendant to serving as a local superintendent of schools.