Request By:
Honorable Joseph B. Hennessey
County Attorney
Brooksville, Kentucky 41004
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By: Walter C. Herdman, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
This is in response to your letter of December 14 in which you seek an opinion as to whether or not a person can hold the office of city councilman in a city of the fourth class and at the same time serve as master commissioner for the circuit court.
Our response to your question would be in the affirmative. A master commissioner is neither a state nor county officer. He is merely an agent or assistant to the circuit court. See Shannon v. Ray, 280 Ky. 31, 132 S.W.2d 545 (1939). On the other hand, a city councilman is a municipal officer.
Section 165 of the Constitution and KRS 61.080 prohibit a person from holding a municipal office and a state or county office at the same time. However, since the position of master commissioner does not fall within either category, no incompatibility exists under the Constitution or statutes. As a consequence, a person may hold both of the referred to positions at the same time, assuming, of course, that he can perform the duties of both with care and ability.