Request By:
Howard B. Kline
8012 Hummingbird Hollow
Louisville, Kentucky 40222
Opinion
Opinion By: Chris Gorman, Attorney General; Ross T. Carter, Assistant Attorney General
You have asked the following questions:
Would the provisions in KRS 11A.040(6) apply to an employee of a Constitutional Office who wishes to accept subsequent employment with the Kentucky Lottery Corporation?
Do any of the provisions of KRS Chapter 11A apply to "a state agency employee's acceptance of subsequent employment with another state agency"?
With regard to your first question, the answer is provided in the definitions section of chapter 11A. The general rule stated in KRS 11A.040(6) is that a public servant may not accept employment with "any person or business that contracts or does business with the state in which he was directly involved during his tenure." Although one might conclude that in a sense the lottery does business with the state, it is not a "business" as that term is used in the statute. In KRS 11A.010(1) "business" is defined as an entity "through which business is conducted for profit." Quite definitely the lottery does not engage in business for profit in any normal sense of the words. It has no owners or stockholders who have a personal financial stake in its earnings. In addition, KRS 11A.010(10) defines "state agency" to include a "public corporation." Therefore based on these definitions we conclude that employment with the state lottery is not affected by the provisions of KRS 11A.040.
Regarding your second question, we are not aware of any provision in KRS chapter 11A that deals specifically with an employee's transfer from one agency to another.