2013 Kentucky Revised Statutes CHAPTER 16 - STATE POLICE 16.192 Removal, suspension, or reduction of grade or pay for positions created under KRS 16.187.
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16.192 Removal, suspension, or reduction of grade or pay for positions
created under KRS 16.187.
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
With the exceptions specified in this section and KRS 16.193, no officer
commissioned under KRS 16.186 to 16.195 shall be removed, suspended, or
reduced in grade or pay for any reason except inefficiency, misconduct,
insubordination, or violation of law or of any administrative regulation
promulgated by the commissioner. Any person may present charges in writing
against any officer, which shall be filed with the Office of Internal Affairs, which
shall be designated by the commissioner as the recipient of charges and shall
be administratively responsible for the maintenance of good order within the
department through the collection and investigation of charges and the
retention of their dispositions. The charges shall be signed by the person filing
the charges, and shall set out with clarity and distinction each and every
charge. The commissioner, whenever probable cause appears, shall present
charges against any officer whom he believes to have been guilty of conduct
justifying his removal or punishment, in the interest of public order. Within five
(5) days after the filing of charges, the Office of Internal Affairs shall deliver a
copy thereof, personally, by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the
officer offending. Within five (5) days after the receipt thereof, the officer may
demand a public hearing, or may admit the truth of the charges in whole or in
part. If the officer admits the truthfulness of the charges, the commissioner
shall remove, suspend, or reduce in rank or pay the officer so offending, in
proportion to the seriousness of the charges.
If the charges are denied and the officer demands a hearing within the time
specified by subsection (1) of this section, he shall make his demand known to
the commissioner in writing. After a demand for hearing has been made by the
officer, the commissioner, within twenty (20) days from the date thereof, shall
arrange for a public hearing before a trial board to be constituted in the manner
provided in this section. The officer defendant shall be given not less than
twenty (20) days notice of the time, place, and hour of the hearing.
Upon the hearing, all charges shall be considered traversed and put in issue,
and the trial shall be confined and limited to the issues presented by the written
charges. The trial board hearing the charges may summon and compel the
attendance of witnesses at all hearings or sittings, by subpoena issued by the
commissioner and served upon any witness by any sheriff or other person
authorized by law to serve process. If any person fails to comply with any lawful
order of the department or with process, or if any witness refuses to testify
concerning any matter in which he may lawfully be interrogated, any Circuit
Judge, upon application of the trial board or the commissioner, may compel
obedience by proceedings for contempt as in the case of disobedience of a
subpoena issued from the Circuit Court or a refusal to testify in that court.
The officer defendant shall have the right to subpoena in his behalf any
witnesses he may desire upon furnishing their names to the trial board or to the
commissioner. The officer shall likewise have the right to appear in person and
by counsel.
All charges against the officer defendant, together with all proceedings before
the trial board, shall be transcribed and reduced to writing and a permanent
record kept thereof.
(6) In any instance where the commissioner has probable cause to believe that an
officer has been guilty of conduct justifying his removal or punishment, he may
immediately suspend the officer from duty, or from both pay and duty, pending
trial, and the officer shall not be again placed on duty or allowed pay thereafter
until a determination of the charges under this section.
(7) The trial board, after hearing the charges, shall fix the punishment of any
officer found guilty of any one (1) or more charges, by reprimand or suspension
for any length of time not to exceed six (6) months, or by reducing the grade if
the officer's classification warrants same, or by combining any two (2) or more
of the punishments, or by reducing the monthly salary of the officer by not more
than twenty percent (20%) for not more than six (6) months, or by removing or
dismissing from the service of the department any officer so found guilty.
(8) For the purpose of hearing charges against any officer, as set forth in this
section, there is created a trial board, which shall consist of the commissioner
and a panel of ten (10) officers of the department appointed by the
commissioner which shall be composed of six (6) commercial vehicle
enforcement officers, two (2) facilities security officers, one (1) arson
investigator officer, and one (1) hazardous devices investigator officer. The
commissioner shall designate from the panel seven (7) members consisting of
four (4) commercial vehicle enforcement officers, one (1) facilities security
officer, one (1) arson investigator officer, and one (1) hazardous devices
investigator officer, to hear charges against any officer in the manner and
under the procedures established by this section. The commissioner may
promulgate reasonable administrative regulations governing the procedure
before the trial board that do not conflict with this section. The panel or trial
board shall be a continuing body and the officers designated shall serve on the
board or panel in addition to their other duties without any increase in
compensation, except they may be reimbursed for meals, lodging, and
traveling expenses incurred while in the performance of their official duties as
members of the board or panel. Any officer defendant may for cause challenge
the right of any member of the board in the trial of any action against him, and
if the remaining members of the board find that the challenge is justifiable, the
member of the board shall be excused from hearing the charges, and another
member substituted from the panel.
(9) No officer is entitled to a hearing as provided in this section unless his
suspension is for more than twenty (20) days, or his pay reduced more than
ten percent (10%), except that if the officer receives more than twenty (20)
days suspension or reduction in salary of more than ten percent (10%) within a
period of one (1) year, he shall have the right to a hearing as provided by this
section.
(10) Any officer appointed to the department under this section shall be considered
on probation for a period of one (1) year from and after the date of his
appointment, and during that period may be discharged or suspended or
reduced in rank or pay, with or without cause, by the commissioner. The rights
conferred upon an officer for a hearing, as provided in this section, shall not
accrue until the officer has been employed by the department for a period of
one (1) year or more.
Effective:June 25, 2009
History: Created 2009 Ky. Acts ch. 75, sec. 7, effective June 25, 2009.
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