2014 Kentucky Revised Statutes
CHAPTER 95 - CITY POLICE AND FIRE DEPARTMENTS
95.450 Discipline of members of police and fire departments in urban-county governments and cities on DLG's registry of cities that belonged to the second and third classes on January 1, 2014.
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<![CDATA[95.450 Discipline of members of police and fire departments in urban-county
governments and cities on DLG's registry of cities that belonged to the
second and third classes on January 1, 2014.
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
The provisions of this section shall only apply to members of police and fire
departments in urban-county governments and those cities that are included in
the Department for Local Government registry created pursuant to subsection
(9) of this section.
Except as provided in subsection (6) of this section no member of the police or
fire department in cities listed on the registry pursuant to subsection (9) of this
section or an urban-county government shall be reprimanded, dismissed,
suspended or reduced in grade or pay for any reason except inefficiency,
misconduct, insubordination or violation of law or of the rules adopted by the
legislative body, and only after charges are preferred and a hearing conducted
as provided in this section.
Any person may prefer charges against a member of the police or fire
department by filing them with the clerk of the legislative body who shall
immediately communicate the same to the legislative body. The mayor shall,
whenever probable cause appears, prefer charges against any member whom
he believes guilty of conduct justifying his dismissal or punishment. The
charges shall be written and shall set out clearly the charges made. The
person preferring the charges may withdraw them at any time prior to the
conclusion of the hearing. The charges may thereupon be dismissed.
Upon the hearing all charges shall be considered traversed and put in issue,
and the trial shall be confined to matters related to the issues presented. Within
three (3) days after the charges have been filed with the legislative body, that
body shall proceed to hear the charges. At least two (2) days before the
hearing the member accused shall be served with a copy of the charges and a
statement of the day, place and hour at which the hearing of the charges will
begin. The person accused may, in writing, waive the service of charges and
demand trial within three (3) days after the charges are filed with the clerk.
The legislative body may summon and compel attendance of witnesses at
hearings by subpoena issued by the clerk of that body and served upon the
witnesses by any officer authorized to serve court subpoenas. If any witness
fails to appear in response to a summons or refuses to testify concerning any
matter on which he may lawfully be interrogated, any District Judge, on
application of the commission, may compel obedience by proceedings for
contempt as in the case of disobedience of a subpoena issued from the District
Court. The member accused may have subpoenaed any witnesses he may
desire, upon furnishing their names to the clerk. The action and decision of the
body on the charges shall be reduced to writing and entered in a book kept for
that purpose, and the written charges filed in the matter shall be attached to the
book containing the decision.
When the appointing authority or the head of the department has probable
cause to believe a member of the police or fire department has been guilty of
conduct justifying dismissal or punishment, he or it may suspend the member
from duty or from both pay and duty, pending trial, and the member shall not be
placed on duty, or allowed pay, until the charges are heard. If the member is
(7)
(8)
(9)
suspended, there shall be no continuances granted without the consent of the
member accused.
The legislative body shall fix the punishment of a member of the police or fire
department found guilty, by a reprimand, suspension for any length of time not
to exceed six (6) months, by reducing the grade if the accused is an officer, or
by combining any two (2) or more of those punishments, or by dismissal from
the service.
A member of a police or fire department found guilty pursuant to the provisions
of this section shall have the right to appeal to the Circuit Court under KRS
95.460.
On or before January 1, 2015, the Department for Local Government shall
create a registry of cities that shall be required to comply with the provisions of
this section. The Department for Local Government shall include each of those
cities on the registry that were classified as cities of the second or third class as
of January 1, 2014. The Department for Local Government shall make the
information included on the registry available to the public by publishing it on its
Web site.
Effective:January 1, 2015
History: Amended 2014 Ky. Acts ch. 92, sec. 112, effective January 1, 2015. -Amended 1976 (1st Extra. Sess.) Ky. Acts ch. 14, sec. 115, effective January 2,
1978. -- Amended 1976 Ky. Acts ch. 165, sec. 1. -- Amended 1974 Ky. Acts ch.
248, sec. 7. -- Amended 1956 Ky. Acts ch. 246, sec. 14, effective May 18, 1956.
-- Recodified 1942 Ky. Acts ch. 208, sec. 1, effective October 1, 1942, from Ky.
Stat. secs. 3138-1, 3138-4, 3235dd-35, 3351a-2.
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