{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-65.003","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 65.003","heading":"Codes of ethics for city, county, charter county, urban -county government,","body":"and consolidated local government officials and employees -- Codes of ethics\nfor boards, officers, and employees of special purpose governmental entities --\nInterlocal agreements -- Delegation of council's subpoena power to investigate\ncode of ethics violations -- Group responsible for enforcement in consolidated\nlocal government -- Procurement of attorney services.\n(1) (a) The governing body of each city, county, urban-county, consolidated local\ngovernment, and charter county, shall adopt, by ordinance, a code of ethics\nwhich shall apply to all elected officials of the city, county, urban -county,\nconsolidated local government, or charter county, and to appointed of ficials\nand employees of the city, county, urban -county, consolidated local\ngovernment, or charter county government, or agencies created jointly, as\nspecified in the code of ethics. The elected officials of a city, county, or\nconsolidated local government  to which a code of ethics shall apply include\nthe mayor, county judge/executive, members of the governing body, county\nclerk, county attorney, sheriff, jailer, coroner, surveyor, and constable but do\nnot include members of any school board. Agencies creat ed jointly may\ninclude planning or administrative commissions or boards. Candidates for the\nlocal government elective offices specified in this subsection shall comply\nwith the annual financial disclosure statement filing requirements contained in\nthe code of ethics.\n(b) The boards, officers, and employees of special purpose governmental entities\nshall be subject to a code of ethics as provided in KRS 65A.070. As used in\nthis section, special purpose governmental entity has the same meaning as in\nKRS 65A.010.\n(2) Any city, county, or consolidated local government may enter into a memorandum\nof agreement or an interlocal agreement with one (1) or more other cities, counties,\nor consolidated local governments for joint adoption of a code of ethics which shall\napply to all elected officials of the cities, counties, or consolidated local\ngovernments, and to appointed officials and employees as specified by each of the\ncities, counties, or consolidated local governments which enters into the agreement.\nInterlocal agreements shall be executed pursuant to the Interlocal Cooperation Act\nin KRS 65.210 to 65.300. The interlocal agreement or memorandum of agreement\nmay provide for but shall not be limited to:\n(a) The provision of administrative services relating to the i mplementation of a\ncode of ethics;\n(b) The creation of a regional ethics board which serves independently to provide\nadvice to member governments and their officials and provides for the\nenforcement of locally adopted codes of ethics; and\n(c) Contracting b y a memorandum of agreement with an area development\ndistrict for the provision of administrative services relating to the\nimplementation of a code of ethics.\nCandidates for the city, county, or consolidated local government elective offices\nspecified in this subsection shall comply with the annual financial disclosure\nstatement filing requirements contained in the code of ethics.\n(3) Each code of ethics adopted as provided by subsection (1) or (2) of this section, or\namended as provided by subsection (4) of this section, shall include but not be\nlimited to provisions which set forth:\n(a) Standards of conduct for elected and appointed officials and employees;\n(b) Requirements for creation o f financial disclosure statements, which shall be\nfiled annually by all candidates for the city, county, or consolidated local\ngovernment elective offices specified in subsection (1) of this section, elected\nofficials of each city, county, or consolidated local government, and other\nofficials or employees of the city, county, or consolidated local government,\nas specified in the code of ethics, and which shall be filed with the person or\ngroup responsible for enforcement of the code of ethics;\n(c) A policy on the employment of members of the families of officials or\nemployees of the city, county, or consolidated local government, as specified\nin the code of ethics; and\n(d) The designation of a person or group who shall be responsible for\nenforcement of the c ode of ethics, including maintenance of financial\ndisclosure statements, all of which shall be available for public inspection,\nreceipt of complaints alleging possible violations of the code of ethics,\nissuance of opinions in response to inquiries relating  to the code of ethics,\ninvestigation of possible violations of the code of ethics, and imposition of\npenalties provided in the code of ethics.\n(4) The code of ethics ordinance adopted by a city, county, or consolidated local\ngovernment may be amended but shall not be repealed.\n(5) (a) Within twenty-one (21) days of the adoption of the code of ethics required by\nthis section, each city, county, or consolidated local government shall deliver\na copy of the ordinance by which the code was adopted and proof of\npublication in accordance with KRS Chapter 424 to the Department for Local\nGovernment. The Department for Local Government shall maintain the\nordinances as public records and shall maintain a list of city, county, or\nconsolidated local governments which have adopted a code of ethics and a list\nof those which have not adopted a code of ethics.\n(b) Within twenty-one (21) days of the amendment of a code of ethics required by\nthis section, each city, county, or consolidated local government shall:\n1. Deliver a copy of the ordinance by which the code was amended and\nproof of publication in accordance with KRS Chapter 424 to the\nDepartment for Local Government, which shall maintain the amendment\nwith the ordinance by which the code was adopted; and\n2. Deliver a copy of the ordinance by which the code was amended to the\ngoverning body of each special purpose governmental entity that\nfollows that establishing entity's code of ethics pursuant to KRS\n65A.070.\n(c) For ordinances adopting or amending a code of ethics under this section, cities\nof the first class and consolidated local governments shall comply with the\npublication requirements of KRS 83A.060(9), notwithstanding the exception\ncontained in that statute.\n(6) If a city, county, or consolidated local government  fails to comply with the\nrequirements of this section, the Department for Local Government shall notify all\nstate agencies, including area development districts, which deliver services or\npayments of money from the Commonwealth to the city, county, or con solidated\nlocal government. Those agencies shall suspend delivery of all services or payments\nto the city, county, or consolidated local government which fails to comply with the\nrequirements of this section. The Department for Local Government shall\nimmediately notify those same agencies when the city, county, or consolidated local\ngovernment is in compliance with the requirements of this section, and those\nagencies shall reinstate the delivery of services or payments to the city, county, or\nconsolidated local government. This subsection shall not be interpreted or construed\nto permit the state to withhold any nondiscretionary payments that are due to the\ncity, county, or consolidated local government for the provision of services by the\ncity, county, or co nsolidated local government to the state or any of its agencies,\nincluding for the use of utility services.\n(7) Notwithstanding KRS 67C.103(14)(e), a simple majority of the legislative council\nof a consolidated local government may delegate its authority t o issue\nadministrative subpoenas for the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the\nproduction of documents relevant to possible violations of the code of ethics to the\nperson or a majority of the group responsible for enforcement of a code of ethics.\nSubpoenas shall be served in the same manner as subpoenas for witnesses in civil\ncases. Compliance with the subpoenas shall be enforceable by the Circuit Court.\nAny failure to obey an order of the court may be punished by the court as contempt\nthereof.\n(8) (a) In a consolidated local government, the group responsible for the enforcement\nof the code of ethics shall consist of seven (7) members chosen as follows:\n1. Three (3) members appointed by the mayor of the consolidated local\ngovernment; and\n2. Four (4) members appointed by the legislative council of the\nconsolidated local government with two (2) being appointed by each of\nthe largest two (2) political caucuses of the legislative council.\n(b) No more than three (3) members of the group responsible for the  enforcement\nof the code of ethics shall be members of the same political party. A member\nof the group responsible for the enforcement of the code of ethics shall have\nbeen a member of the political party he or she is registered with for the\npurposes of ba lance set out in this section for at least four (4) years\nimmediately prior to selection. The terms of the members shall be for four (4)\nyears.\n(c) If the group responsible for the enforcement of the code of ethics wishes to\nprocure the services of an atto rney, it shall either use attorneys employed by\nthe county attorney's office of the county in which the consolidated local\ngovernment is contained, or it shall engage the county attorney to procure\nattorneys not employed by the county attorney's office. Th e county attorney\nshall follow the provisions of KRS 424.260 or, if the local model procurement\ncode is in effect for the consolidated local government, the provisions of KRS\n45A.380.","path":["KRS Chapter 65"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=57990","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:49:19Z","sha256":"be64fc3710f423170adf736c086fae91f8be44309e7573f58cdecc4c97124e3d","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-645.990","next":"us-ky/krs-65.005"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}