Request By:
Mr. Lambert Hehl
Campbell County Judge/Executive
24 W. 4th Street
Newport, Kentucky 41072
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By: Charles W. Runyan, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
The Campbell County Fiscal Court is now receiving applications for the position of police officer. One applicant is from another state. There may be additional applicants from other states. Campbell County is one of our Metropolitan and Urban areas in Kentucky. It lies across the Ohio from Cincinnati and is for some purposes a part of the Greater Cincinnati area. We assume you are recruiting for the Campbell County Police Force, established pursuant to KRS 70.540. That statute provides in part that "All members of the force shall be citizens of the United States not less than twenty-one (21) years of age, and shall have been bona fide residents of the county in which they are appointed for not less than one (1) year before their appointment. " (Emphasis added).
The issue: What is the residence requirement concerning the appointment of county policemen?
Section 234 of the Kentucky Constitution requires all county civil officers to reside within their respective counties. However, the old
Court of Appeals, in City of Newport v. Schindler, Ky., 449 S.W.2d 17 (1970), ruled that the word "officer" as used in § 234 of the Constitution applies only to those officers named directly and designated in the Constitution. The court held, therefore, that a city policeman is not such an officer. Thus this rules out the applicability of § 234 to your situation, since a county policeman is not designated in the Constitution.
KRS 61.300(1)(b) requires nonelective peace officers to have resided in the county of appointment for a period of at least two years. However, KRS 15.335 provides that no person shall be disqualified from holding a position as a peace officer by reason of his residence or voting ability, except as provided in the Constitution. Therefore, KRS 61.300(1)(b) has no application to your situation.
As we memtioned above, KRS 70.540 requires that a county policeman shall have been a bona fide resident of the county of appointment for not less than one year before appointment. Here again that statute is not applicable in view of KRS 15.335, cited above.
In conclusion, as to the residence requirement as relates to a county policeman, it is only necessary that he reside in some Kentucky County. He does not have to reside in the county of the appointment. It is necessary that his commuting, if done, will not prevent the proper carrying out of his police duties as scheduled. As we pointed out, the statutes providing for a certain length of time of residence have no application. OAG 74-581, enclosed.
As we have just mentioned, a county policeman is not eligible if he resides in another state. Police officers are officers in the technical sense. See