{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-95.761","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 95.761","heading":"Adoption of civil service, employees retirement system, and police and","body":"firefighters' pension plan in cities with population of 1,000 to 7,999 --\nExemptions from classified service -- Limitations on creation of new fund after\nAugust 1, 1988.\n(1) Any city with a population equal to or greater than one thousand (1,000) but less\nthan eight thousand (8,000) based upon the most recent federal decennial census\nwhich has now, or in which there may be hereafter established a regular police or\nfire department in the future, may by ordinance create a civil service commission,\nwhose duties shall be to hold examinations as to the qualifications of applicants for\nemployment within the police or fire departments. If a city elects to establish a civil\nservice system for its police and fire employees under this section, then it may adopt\neither the provisions of this section, or KRS 95.762 to 95.766, or it may adopt the\nprovisions of KRS 90.300 to 90.420. A city meeting the population criteria of this\nsubsection may adopt the provisions of KRS 90.300 to 90.420 for municipal\nemployees who are not police or fire personnel.\n(2) Any city meeting the criteria of subsection (6) of this section may provide a\nretirement system for any of its employees, including police an d firefighters,\npursuant to KRS 90.400 or 90.410. If a city creates a retirement system for its police\nand firefighters pursuant to KRS 90.400 or 90.410, it shall establish a board of\ntrustees for that system. The provisions of KRS 90.400 and 90.410 notwithstanding,\na majority of the board shall be members of the retirement system elected by the\nmembers of the retirement system, except that if there are fewer than six (6) active\nand retired members of the fund, the board of trustees shall be composed of the\nmayor, city treasurer or chief financial officer, and two (2) employees appointed by\nthe mayor, one (1) from the city police department and one (1) from the city fire\ndepartment, who shall serve for one (1) year and until their respective successors are\nappointed and qualified. If all of the members of the pension fund are from one (1)\ndepartment, no appointment shall be made from the other department. The board of\ntrustees shall control and manage the retirement fund, for the exclusive purposes of\nproviding benefits to members and their beneficiaries and defraying reasonable\nexpenses of administering the plan. The board may contract with investment\nadvisors or managers to perform investment services as deemed necessary and\nprudent by the board.\n(3) A city meeting the criteria of subsection (6) of this section may adopt the provisions\nof KRS 79.080 or 78.510 to 78.852 for any of its employees, or either KRS 95.520\nto 95.620 or KRS 95.767 to 95.784 for its police and firefighters. After adoption of\nthe provisions of any of the statutes listed in this section, the city may not revoke,\nrescind or repeal these adoptions for any employee covered thereby.\n(4) (a) Any of the following offices, positions, and places of employment, in the\npolice and fire departments, may be excluded from the classified service: The\nchief of police, assistant chief of police, chief of firefighters and assistant\nchief of firefighters.\n(b) Any classified employee in either department who shall accept an appointment\nand qualify as chief of police, assistant chief of police, chief of firefighters, or\nassistant chief of firefighters, shall be deemed to have received a leave of\nabsence from the classified service for, and during the incumbency of, any of\nsaid respective positions. Should any s uch chief or assistant chief, cease to\nserve as such, the same classification and rank which he had prior to said\nappointment shall be restored to him.\n(5) After August 1, 1988, no city shall create a new pension fund pursuant to this\nsection other than by  adopting KRS 78.510 to 78.852, or by adopting a deferred\ncompensation program pursuant to KRS 18A.270 or a defined contribution or\nmoney purchase plan qualified under Section 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code\nof 1954 as amended. Any city which adopted a  pension system pursuant to this\nsection on or prior to August 1, 1988, shall participate in the County Employees\nRetirement System effective August 1, 1988.\n(6) As used in subsections (2) and (3) of this section, \"city\" means only those cities that\nwere p reviously classified as cities of the fourth and fifth class under the\nclassification system that was in effect before August 1, 1988.\n(7) Notwithstanding subsection (1) of this section, no city shall adopt any civil service\nsystem for any of its employees  during the months of November or December in\nany even-numbered year.\n(8) Any city that creates a civil service commission pursuant to this section may repeal\nor amend the ordinance at the discretion of the city legislative body. The city\nlegislative body shall not repeal any provisions of the ordinance governing the\nmaintenance of a pension fund.","path":["KRS Chapter 95"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=48684","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:49:55Z","sha256":"ab77a11db527c0c951906bddf405f93718873beb0787661f1c2782865d922ca2","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-95.760","next":"us-ky/krs-95.762"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}