Kentucky League of Cities: City Officials Legal Handbook - Kentucky League of Cities

Kentucky League of Cities: City Officials Legal Handbook (eBook)

Kentucky League of Cities (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2021 | 1. Auflage
577 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
978-1-0983-6861-6 (ISBN)

Some city officials learn the hard way that good intentions are not enough. Lawmakers and courts have created a tangled web of dos and don'ts for elected and appointed officials. Whether you are a mayor, legislative body member, city attorney, or city manager, you have to find a way to navigate the legal maze to serve your citizens. Fortunately, you have the basis for what you need to know in your hands. The City Officials Legal Handbook represents a portion of the training and education you will need to help you understand your role as a city official. Each chapter breaks down complicated legal issues into plain language to provide the most important information to you. While the legal Handbook is not intended as legal advice or as a substitute for consultations with your city attorney, it is designed to provide city officials a 'source of first resort' in Kentucky municipal law. The Handbook is updated every odd year to provide basic information about the framework of city government and how it functions, planning and conducting meetings, budgeting, taxes, planning and zoning, ethics, and more. As with any legal publication, there is always a chance the law will change between updates. Please work closely with your city attorney on legal matters, and contact the KLC Municipal Law staff with questions about the legal information provided in this Handbook.

The Kentucky League of Cities is a nonprofit association that provides a number of services including legal research and information, legislative advocacy, training, insurance, loss control, and employee benefits to nearly 400 cities across the state. Our job at the Kentucky League of Cities is to connect members with educational opportunities that will deepen your understanding of your role as a city official and help you to be the public servant who truly contributes to an improved quality of life for your citizens through effective local governance. Some of the most popular legal services KLC provides include:Access to sample ordinances on common topics such as nuisance enforcement, animal control, alcohol regulation, business licenses, and zoningAssistance with general questions about municipal law, including providing existing written opinions, regulations, statutes, cases, or articlesAccess to the city attorney listserve, where city attorneys can discuss legal issues with other municipal attorneys across the stateCity attorney continuing legal education opportunitiesNews updates on OAG opinions, court rulings and reminders on important deadlines and requirements for city governmentsTraining and seminars on a wide range of municipal law topicsAdditionally, cities are represented through KLC's legislative advocacy and legal advocacy programs, which represent the collective interests of KLC's member cities to the General Assembly and the Kentucky court system. For additional information about these services or the City Officials Legal Handbook, you may contact the KLC Municipal Law staff at 1-800-876-4552 or visit www.klc.org. We wish you well during your term in office or employment and look forward to assisting you in your role.

Chapter 1: The Legal Basis For Kentucky’s Cities

I.INTRODUCTION

A.What is a City?

American law currently recognizes no concrete definition of a city. The United States Supreme Court stated, “[t]he city is a miniature state.” Paulsen v. City of Portland, 13 S.Ct. 750, 753 (1893). “[T]he municipal corporation exists merely for the benefit of the people in their public capacity within its territorial area.” 1 McQuillin Mun. Corp. § 1:59 (3d ed.). “The purpose of municipal corporations is, first, to serve the local inhabitants in regulating and promoting community affairs, and second, to serve the inhabitants of the state residing in the locality in common state matters as an agency of the state.” 1 McQuillin Mun. Corp. § 2:11 (3d ed.).

Kentucky currently has 416 cities. These municipalities offer a broad range of services, and home rule authority grants cities wide latitude to provide for the health, safety, and welfare of their citizens. Among the many city services offered are street maintenance, garbage collection, police and fire protection, emergency medical services, parks and recreation, public transportation, water and sewer services, electricity plants, historic preservation, and community events.

B.How a City Relates to State and Federal Government

The sharp distinctions which once existed between the activities of federal, state, and local governments continue to blur as populations grow and the needs and interests of residents become increasingly complex. No level of government can meet the demands placed upon it by relying solely on its own officers and resources. As the dividing lines between the federal, state, and local governments become more and more clouded, a system of shared government has evolved in which all levels of government work interdependently. Consequently, cities exercise critical relationships with state and federal governments to efficiently and adequately serve the public need. “Within the realm of a divided sovereignty based on democratic principles the orderly functioning of every aspect of government performed at each level must be continually watched. The lines of demarcation separating the various areas of governmental authority may tend to dissolve in the interest of more adequate and efficient public service; yet the policy of local control over local affairs serves an equal public purpose, the vital idea of democracy.” 1 McQuillin Mun. Corp. § 3A:1 (3d ed.).

Although cities have an increased interdependence with the state and federal governments, cities remain subordinate to both. The supremacy doctrine means that the federal constitution, as well as the statutes and regulations enacted by Congress and federal agencies, are superior to actions taken by city governments. Likewise, state government has plenary, or absolute, authority over cities, and the legislature can make laws that control the powers and duties of cities.

Municipal ordinances are inferior and subordinate to both state and federal laws. Therefore, city governments are preempted from acting in areas where state and federal laws fully occupy a field or where specific state or federal statutes prohibit local action.

C.Responsibility and Authority of City Officials

City officials are elected to serve the public interest. Municipal officers are not empowered merely for the purpose of generating revenue for the city as a corporation but also “to supply such municipal needs, conveniences, and comforts as will advance the prosperity of the whole community.” 1 McQuillin Mun. Corp. § 1.59 (3rd ed.). Holding public office signifies a position of trust. Individuals occupy municipal offices to efficiently allocate the city’s resources. “[P]ublic corporations are such as are created by the government for political purposes, as counties, cities, towns, and villages; they are invested with subordinate legislative powers to be exercised for local purposes connected with the public good, and such powers are subject to the control of the legislature of the state.” 1 McQuillin Mun. Corp. § 1:60 (3d ed.).

In Kentucky, there are more than 2,600 elected city official positions. These officials have statutory responsibilities that must be strictly observed. Additionally, as the Kentucky Supreme Court has held, municipal officers “have implied authority to perform those acts necessary to carry out their prescribed duties.” City of Winchester v. Winchester Bank, 205 S.W.2d 997, 999 (Ky. 1947). City officials are therefore afforded necessary flexibility to most effectively serve the public need.

II.KENTUCKY CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS PERTAINING TO CITY GOVERNMENTS

The current version of the Kentucky Constitution became effective in 1891. Since that time, most of the constitutional provisions specifically relating to city government have remained unchanged. The Kentucky Constitution does not explicitly create any city. It does, however, envision cities as a part of the governmental structure of the Commonwealth and establishes a framework allowing cities to be created, organized, and operated through acts of the state legislature. For reference purposes, the most important sections of the Kentucky Constitution relating to the creation and organization of city governments are summarized below. These sections and other provisions of the Kentucky Constitution relating to city officers and various aspects of the operation of city government are also referred to in subsequent chapters.

A.Section 152 - Vacancies in Elected Public Offices

Establishes the requirements for filling vacancies in public offices, including city offices.

B.Section 156a - City Classification

In November 1994, the Commonwealth’s voters approved a constitutional amendment creating sections 156a and 156b of the Kentucky Constitution. Section 156a replaced Section 156 (now repealed). Section 156a delegates to the Kentucky General Assembly the authority to provide for the creation, alteration of boundaries, consolidation, merger, dissolution, government, functions, and officers of cities. Additionally, Section 156a establishes a set of criteria that may be used by the General Assembly to classify cities. Formerly, Section 156 established six classes of cities based solely on population. Section 156a provides that the General Assembly shall create classifications of cities as it deems necessary based on population, tax base, form of government, geography, or any other reasonable basis. Since the approval of Section 156a, there had been no attempt to reclassify cities using criteria other than population until the passage of House Bill 331 in 2014. HB 331 organized cities into two classes based on their form of government instead of population.

C.Section 156b - Home Rule

Authorizes, but does not require, the General Assembly to grant home rule authority to cities. The General Assembly chose to grant home rule through enactment of KRS 82.082. Home rule authority is discussed in greater detail in Chapter 3.

D.Section 160 - City Officers

Requires mayors (chief executives) and legislative body members to be elected by the voters, except that it allows mayors in fourth, fifth, and sixth class cities to be appointed, if authorized by statute. Currently, the statutes do not authorize appointment of mayors and with the passage of HB 331, fourth, fifth, and sixth class cities no longer exist; so all mayors continue to be elected. Section 160 establishes a four-year term of office for mayors and a two-year term of office for city legislative body members. The section prohibits mayors in first- and second-class cities from serving more than three consecutive terms; however, it places no limit on the number of terms a mayor may serve in other classes of cities. Finally, Section 160 authorizes the General Assembly to establish the qualifications of all city officers, the causes for which they may be removed from office, and how vacancies in office are to be filled.

E.Section 161 - Compensation of Local Government Officers

The compensation of a city officer “shall not be changed after his election, or appointment, or during his term of office.” Furthermore, it prohibits extending the term of office of any city officer beyond the period for which the officer was elected.

F.Section 165 - Incompatible Offices and Employments

Prohibits any person from simultaneously holding two city offices, either in the same or different cities. It prohibits any person from simultaneously holding a state office and an office or position of employment with a city.

G.Section 167 - Time of Elections

Requires all city and urban county officers to be elected at the general election in November in even-numbered years. Prior to the amendment of Section 167 in 1992, city mayors were elected in odd-numbered years and legislative body members were elected in even-numbered...

Erscheint lt. Verlag	1.4.2021
Sprache	englisch
Themenwelt	Recht / Steuern ► Öffentliches Recht
ISBN-10	1-0983-6861-4 / 1098368614
ISBN-13	978-1-0983-6861-6 / 9781098368616

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