§ 33.01. STANDARDS OF CONDUCT.

(A) No member of the Fiscal Court or County Judge/Executive shall become interested, directly or indirectly, in any contract for work to be done or material furnished for the county or any district thereof, or become interested in any claim against the county or state.

(B) No Justice of the Peace, while he or she is a member of the Fiscal Court, shall directly or indirectly:

(1) Become interested in or receive benefits or emoluments from any contract let by the Fiscal Court of the county with relation to the building of roads or any internal improvements;

(2) Work or supervise work, for compensation, on any public road, bridge, culvert, fill, quarry pit or any other road work or internal improvement under any contract made with the Fiscal Court; or

(3) Furnish, for compensation, any material to the county to be used in the construction of any road or bridge or other internal improvement.

(C) No County Judge/Executive or County Attorney shall, directly or indirectly, receive any benefits or emoluments from, furnish any material or other thing of value to be used in or be interested in any contract let by the Fiscal Court for the construction of any roads, bridges or parts thereof, or any other public or internal improvement.

(D) (1) In absence of good cause shown, no member of Fiscal Court shall fail to attend 50% of the regular terms of Fiscal Court within a 6-month period or fail to attend 2 consecutive terms of the Fiscal Court.

(2) GOOD CAUSE as used in division (D)(1) of this section shall include but not be limited to personal or family illness, vacation, personal business and work obligations.

(E) No public servant shall willfully neglect the discharge of his or her official duties or commit misfeasance or malfeasance in office.

(F) No public servant shall receive, directly or indirectly, any interest, profits or perquisites arising from the use or loan of public funds in his or her hands, or to be raised through his or her county agency.

(G) No public servant shall become intoxicated or unable, incompetant or disqualified to discharge any of the duties of his or her office by the use of spirituous, venous or malt liquors, while in the discharge of his or her office.

(H) No County Attorney, County Clerk or deputy shall purchase or speculate in any claim allowed by the Fiscal Court of the county.

(I) No Sheriff or Tax Administrator shall become interested, directly or indirectly, in the construction of any public works or improvements in which the county or state is directly or indirectly interested, or on which he or she may be required to pay money, or speculate in any claim against the state or county.

(J) No County Clerk shall maintain a law partnership or association with an attorney-at-law.

(K) No County Clerk, Justice of the Peace, Constable or Recorder shall keep his or her office with that of an attorney-at-law.

(L) No county road engineer shall employ as a laborer on the public roads his or her father, son, son-in-law, grandson, brother, brother-in-law, nephew or first cousin by blood.

(M) No public servant shall solicit, accept or agree to accept any pecuniary benefit upon an agreement or understanding that his or her vote, opinion, judgment, exercise of discretion or other action as a public servant will thereby be influenced.

(N) No public servant shall take or agree to take any bribe to do or omit to do any act in his or her official capacity.

(O) No public servant shall solicit unlawful compensation by requesting a pecuniary benefit for the performance of an official action knowing that he or she was required to perform that action without compensation or at a level of compensation lower than that requested.

(P) No public servant shall:

(1) Solicit, accept or agree to accept compensation for advice or other assistance in preparing an ordinance, bill, contract, claim or other transaction or proposal as to which he or she knows that he or she is likely to have an official discretion to exercise; or

(2) Offer, pay or agree to pay compensation to a public servant for advice or other assistance in preparing or promoting an ordinance, bill, contract claim or other transaction with knowledge that acceptance by the public servant is unlawful.

(Q) (1) No public servant shall knowingly, with intent to obtain or confer a benefit or to injure another person or to deprive another person of a benefit:

(a) Commit an act relating to his or her office which constitutes an unauthorized exercise of his or her official functions;

(b) Refrain from performing a duty imposed upon him or her by law or clearly inherent in the nature of his or her office; or

(c) Violate any statute or lawfully adopted rule or regulation relating to his or her office.

(2) No public servant shall knowingly:

(a) Commit an act relating to his or her office which constitutes an unauthorized exercise of his or her official functions;

(b) Refrain from performing a duty imposed upon him or her by law or clearly inherent in the nature of his or her office; or

(c) Violate any statute or lawfully adopted rule or regulation relating to his or her office.

(R) No public servant shall, in contemplation of official action by himself or herself or by a governmental unit with which he or she is associated, or in reliance on information to which he or she has access in his or her official capacity and which has not been made public:

(1) Accept or agree to accept a pecuniary interest in any property, transaction or enterprise which may be affected by that information or official action;

(2) Speculate or wager on the basis of the information or official action; or

(3) Aids another to do any of the foregoing.

(S) Every public servant who has a prohibited financial interest which he or she believes or has reason to believe may be affected by an official action taken within the scope of his or her employment, including any vote or decision, shall disclose the precise nature of the interest to the governing body, and the disclosure shall be entered on the official record of the proceedings of the governing body. The officer or employee shall refrain from taking any official action with respect to the matter that is the subject of the disclosure.

(T) No public servant shall use any public time, funds, personnel, equipment or other personal or real property for his or her private gain or for the private gain of any other person, unless the use is authorized by law.

(U) No county government officer or employee shall be prohibited from:

(1) Giving or receiving an award publicly presented in recognition of public service;

(2) Giving or receiving commercially reasonable loans made in the ordinary course of the lender's business; or

(3) Reasonable hosting, including travel and expenses, entertainment, meals or refreshments furnished in connection with public events, appearances, ceremonies or fact-finding trips related to official county government business.

(V) No county government officer shall be prohibited from accepting a gratuity for solemnizing a marriage.

(W) Any Sheriff, Deputy Sheriff or other peace officer who fails to enforce any provision of KRS 242.015 to 242.990 after receiving information thereof, or having knowledge of a violation thereof and failing to act thereon, may be indicted for nonfeasance or malfeasance in office.

(X) No public servant convicted of bribery, forgery, perjury or any felony by a court of record in or out of this state shall continue to hold office or post. The office or post shall be vacated by the conviction, and any pardon afterward shall not avoid the forfeiture of the office.

(Ord. passed 11-15-1994) Penalty, see § 33.99