Request By:
Joseph H. Conley, Esq.
Nicholas County Attorney
Carlisle, Kentucky 40311
Opinion
Opinion By: Frederic J. Cowan, Attorney General; Thomas R. Emerson, Assistant Attorney General
Your recent letter asks whether a constable may contract with the county without creating any prohibited conflict of interest. The contract involves a franchise to collect trash within the county.
Since the contract involves the collecting of trash rather than the operation of a solid waste management facility, KRS 61.097, copy enclosed, is not applicable. That statute, as you know, applies to any elected or nonelected local government officer or employee involved with a solid waste management facility.
There are several statutes dealing with conflicts of interest and various county officers but none of them pertain to constables. See KRS 61.210 (applicable to justices of the peace and magistrates, county judges and county attorneys); KRS 61.220 (applicable to fiscal court members); KRS 61.230 (applicable to sheriffs and collectors of taxes) and KRS 61.240 (applicable to county attorneys and clerks). Also, by way of comparison, see OAG 75-78 and OAG 76-9, copies of which are enclosed.
Thus, on the basis of the few facts available to this office, the constable could contract with the county for trash collection services without violating the conflict of interest provisions applicable to other enumerated county officers.