JUNCTION CITY — A Junction City councilman who also has been serving as a special deputy for the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department has temporarily resigned his position in Lincoln due to a possible violation of a Kentucky statute regarding incompatible offices.
As of Wednesday, Dewayne Taylor, an eight-year member of the Junction City Council, had resigned his position as special deputy. It is an unpaid, volunteer position, which he had held for about two years.
Incompatible offices, or offices where a person cannot serve in more than one simultaneously, include serving as an officer or employee of any county, city, consolidated local government, or other municipality, and also serving as a justice of the peace, county judge-executive, surveyor, sheriff, deputy sheriff, coroner, jailer, clerk and deputy clerk.
According to Bill Noelker, city attorney for Junction City, who is looking into the matter, these types of violations happen frequently simply because people are unaware. The statute is in place, Noelker said, to maintain “the appearance of propriety.”
Noelker said he was approached about the issue about a month ago and has been attempting to secure an answer regarding the matter. The uncertainty about the matter comes from the locations of the two offices, as Junction City is in Boyle County and Taylor was a deputy in Lincoln County.
“Holding the offices in the same county is a definite no,” Noelker said.
So far, he explained, there doesn’t seem to be another instance of this to use as a precedence. The matter may be one that can never fully be answered, unless or until someone were to take such an issue to court for a judge to determine, Noelker explained.
“If Taylor decides to remain resigned, it’s not an issue,” he said.
Taylor confirmed he had resigned and was waiting to hear what Noelker had determined, but would not comment any further on the matter.
As of Wednesday, Dewayne Taylor, an eight-year member of the Junction City Council, had resigned his position as special deputy. It is an unpaid, volunteer position, which he had held for about two years.
Incompatible offices, or offices where a person cannot serve in more than one simultaneously, include serving as an officer or employee of any county, city, consolidated local government, or other municipality, and also serving as a justice of the peace, county judge-executive, surveyor, sheriff, deputy sheriff, coroner, jailer, clerk and deputy clerk.
According to Bill Noelker, city attorney for Junction City, who is looking into the matter, these types of violations happen frequently simply because people are unaware. The statute is in place, Noelker said, to maintain “the appearance of propriety.”
Noelker said he was approached about the issue about a month ago and has been attempting to secure an answer regarding the matter. The uncertainty about the matter comes from the locations of the two offices, as Junction City is in Boyle County and Taylor was a deputy in Lincoln County.
“Holding the offices in the same county is a definite no,” Noelker said.
So far, he explained, there doesn’t seem to be another instance of this to use as a precedence. The matter may be one that can never fully be answered, unless or until someone were to take such an issue to court for a judge to determine, Noelker explained.
“If Taylor decides to remain resigned, it’s not an issue,” he said.
Taylor confirmed he had resigned and was waiting to hear what Noelker had determined, but would not comment any further on the matter.
