Request By:
Mr. Tommy Lee
Harlan County Court Clerk
Box 670
Harlan, Kentucky 40831
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By: Walter C. Herdman, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
This is in answer to your letter of May 9 in which you raise the question of the possible incompatibility with regard to the appointment of a member of the county board of elections to the office of Trial Commissioner of Harlan County.
The office of trial commissioner has been held to be a state office pursuant to the terms of KRS 24A.100 and the Judicial Article itself. See OAG 80-16 attached. On the other hand, the office of county election commissioner or membership on the county board of elections, has never been classified though the court in the case of Adams v. Commonwealth, Ky., 268 S.W.2d 930 (1954), indicated that it must be either a county or state office. This office, however, has always taken the position that we believe it to be a county office. See OAG 62-390 attached. The argument that it constitutes a county office has, we believe, been given support under the terms of KRS 117.035, which now provides that:
". . . Service on the board of elections shall be compatible with the holding of any other county office."
Section 165 of the Constitution and KRS 61.080 prohibit a person from holding a state office and county office at the same time. Therefore, since the position of trial commissioner is a state office and membership on the county election board is, we believe, a county office, the individual in question could not hold both positions at the same time as they are incompatible.