{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-61.310","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 61.310","heading":"Compensation of peace officers -- Other employment -- Gratuities --","body":"Penalties.\n(1) \"Peace officer,\" as used in this section, means any sheriff, deputy sheriff, constable\nor deputy constable granted peace officer powers, patrol or any other pea ce officer\nor deputy peace officer except those appointed pursuant to KRS 61.360 or 277.270\nand those employed by a board of education.\n(2) A peace officer shall not receive any compensation or remuneration, directly or\nindirectly, from any person for the performance of any service or duty, except that\nhe or she may be compensated for employment authorized by subsection (4) of this\nsection and accept donations in accordance with subsection (8) of this section. Any\npeace officer who violates this subsection may be removed from office, under the\nprovisions of KRS 63.170.\n(3) (a) Peace officers shall receive for the performance of their services and duties\nonly such compensation or remuneration as is regularly provided and paid out\nof the public funds to the am ount and in the manner provided by law, except\nthat they may be compensated from private funds for employment authorized\nby subsection (4) of this section and accept donations of private funds in\naccordance with subsection (8) of this section.\n(b) Except as set out in subsection (8) of this section, donations made by persons\nto any governmental unit or officer thereof do not constitute public funds\nwithin the meaning of this subsection.\n(4) A peace officer may, while in office, and during hours other than r egular or\nscheduled duty hours, act in any private employment as guard or watchman or in\nany other similar or private employment. However, he may not participate directly\nor indirectly, in any labor dispute during his off -duty hours. Any peace officer who\nviolates this subsection may be removed from office, under the provisions of KRS\n63.170.\n(5) No principal peace officer shall appoint or continue the appointment of any deputy\ncontrary to the provisions of this section. When it appears by the affidavit of two (2)\ncitizens, taxpayers of the county, filed with any principal peace officer, that there is\nreasonable cause to believe that any of his deputies are receiving compensation\nfrom private sources contrary to the provisions of this section, the peace offi cer\nshall forthwith investigate the charges contained in the affidavit, and if he finds the\ncharges are true he shall forthwith remove any such deputy from office. Failure to\ndo so shall constitute neglect of duty on the part of the principal peace officer , and\nhe may be removed from office under the provisions of KRS 63.170.\n(6) In addition to being subject to removal from office, any peace officer who violates\nany of the provisions of this section shall be fined not less than five hundred dollars\n($500) nor more than five thousand dollars ($5,000), or confined in jail for not more\nthan one (1) year, or both.\n(7) Except as provided in subsection (8) of this section and KRS 61.360 and 277.280,\nany person who directly or indirectly pays or contributes or caus es to be paid or\ncontributed any money or other thing of value to any peace officer or to any\ngovernmental unit or officer thereof, either as a gift or donation for the performance\nof any public duty shall be fined not less than five hundred ($500) nor mor e than\nfive thousand dollars ($5,000).\n(8) (a) A sheriff may accept a donation of money or goods to be used for the public\npurposes of his or her office if the sheriff establishes a register for recording\nall donations that includes, at a minimum:\n1. The name and address of the donor;\n2. A general description of the donation;\n3. The date of acceptance of the donation;\n4. The monetary amount of the donation, or its estimated worth; and\n5. Any purpose for which the donation is given.\nThe register shall constitute a public record, be subject to the provis ions of\nKRS 61.870 to 61.884, and be made available to the public for inspection in\nthe sheriff's office during regular business hours.\n(b) Any donation to a sheriff shall only be used to further the public purpose of\nthe office and shall not be used for t he private benefit of the sheriff, his or her\ndeputies, or other employees of the office.\n(c) All donations made in accordance with this subsection shall be expended and\naudited in the same manner as other funds or property of the sheriff's office.\n(d) For the purposes of this section and KRS 521.060, a donation shall not be\nconstrued to mean a campaign contribution made to the sheriff for his or her\nreelection.","path":["KRS Chapter 61"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=53265","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:49:14Z","sha256":"9545483ae33a67dec6dfdd2db3baa31bfea48f3f8e66be9285211eb106267ba3","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-61.300","next":"us-ky/krs-61.315"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}