{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-95.450","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 95.450","heading":"Discipline of members of police and fire departments in urban -county","body":"governments and cities on DLG's registry of cities that belonged to the second\nand third classes on January 1, 2014.\n(1) (a) The provisions of this section shall only apply  to members of police and fire\ndepartments in urban-county governments and those cities that are included in\nthe Department for Local Government registry created pursuant to subsection\n(9) of this section.\n(b) This section shall only apply to a member of t he police department when the\nprovisions of KRS 15.520 do not apply.\n(2) Except as provided in subsection (6) of this section no member of the police or fire\ndepartment in cities listed on the registry pursuant to subsection (9) of this section\nor an urban -county government shall be reprimanded in writing, dismissed,\nsuspended, or reduced in grade or pay for any reason except inefficiency,\nmisconduct, insubordination, or violation of law or of the rules adopted by the\nlegislative body, and only after charge s are preferred and a hearing conducted as\nprovided in this section.\n(3) (a) Any person may file a complaint against a member of the fire department by\nfiling it with the clerk of the legislative body who shall immediately\ncommunicate the same to the legis lative body. Any person may file a\ncomplaint against a member of the police department pursuant to KRS 15.520.\n(b) Subject to the provisions of KRS 15.520, the mayor, city manager, or\nlegislative body shall, whenever probable cause appears, prefer charges\nagainst any member the mayor, city manager, or legislative body believes to\nbe guilty of conduct justifying his dismissal or punishment. The charges shall\nbe written and shall set out clearly the charges made.\n(c) The mayor, city manager, or legislative bo dy preferring the charges may\nwithdraw them at any time prior to the conclusion of the hearing. The charges\nmay thereupon be dismissed.\n(4) (a) Upon the hearing all charges shall be considered traversed and put in issue,\nand the trial shall be confined to matters related to the issues presented.\nUnless otherwise agreed by the legislative body and the member charged, the\nlegislative body shall proceed to hear the charges within ten (10) days after the\ncharges were filed.\n(b) At least five (5) days before the  hearing the member accused shall be served\nwith a copy of the charges and a statement of the day, place, and hour at which\nthe hearing of the charges will begin.\n(c) The member accused may, in writing, waive the service of charges and\ndemand trial within ten (10) days after the charges are filed with the clerk.\n(5) The legislative body may summon and compel attendance of witnesses at hearings\nby subpoena issued by the clerk of that body and served upon the witnesses by any\nofficer authorized to serve court  subpoenas. If any witness fails to appear in\nresponse to a summons or refuses to testify concerning any matter on which he may\nlawfully be interrogated, any District Judge, on application of the commission, may\ncompel obedience by proceedings for contempt  as in the case of disobedience of a\nsubpoena issued from the District Court. The member accused may have\nsubpoenaed any witnesses he may desire, upon furnishing their names to the clerk.\nThe action and decision of the body on the charges shall be reduced to writing and\nentered in a book kept for that purpose, and the written charges filed in the matter\nshall be attached to the book containing the decision.\n(6) When the appointing authority or the head of the department has probable cause to\nbelieve a membe r of the police or fire department has been guilty of conduct\njustifying dismissal or punishment, he or she or it may suspend the member from\nduty or from both pay and duty, pending trial, and the member shall not be placed\non duty, or allowed pay, until t he charges are heard. If the member is suspended,\nthere shall be no continuances granted without the consent of the member accused.\n(7) The legislative body shall fix the punishment of a member of the police or fire\ndepartment found guilty, by a reprimand in writing, suspension for any length of\ntime not to exceed six (6) months, by reducing the grade if the accused is an officer,\nor by combining any two (2) or more of those punishments, or by dismissal from the\nservice.\n(8) A member of a police or fire department found guilty pursuant to the provisions of\nthis section shall have the right to appeal to the Circuit Court under KRS 95.460.\n(9) On or before January 1, 2015, the Department for Local Government shall create a\nregistry of cities that shall be required to comply with the provisions of this section.\nThe Department for Local Government shall include each of those cities on the\nregistry that were classified as cities of the second or third class as of January 1,\n2014. The Department for Local Government shall make the information included\non the registry available to the public by publishing it on its Web site.","path":["KRS Chapter 95"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=53048","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:49:54Z","sha256":"c57ab1f8dfe3887cbdde87f287b4b92e9b251fe6a73a2cd05ba2d55b1052ad78","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-95.445","next":"us-ky/krs-95.460"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}