Could a Kentucky deputy sheriff carry a concealed weapon off duty in another county without a permit?

Plain-English summary

The Kentucky Sheriffs' Association asked whether a deputy sheriff could carry a concealed deadly weapon without a permit while off duty on personal business outside the county where the deputy was sworn. The Attorney General concluded that the statute did not allow it. Even assuming a deputy qualified as a peace officer, that exception applied only when carrying was necessary for protection in the discharge of official duties. A separate statewide exemption for authorized police officers did not include deputies, which the opinion treated as a different position with different statutory qualifications.

The opinion distinguished an older Kentucky case involving a deputy traveling to serve arrest warrants. That deputy was on official business. The court's broader comments about officers between duties predated the later statute limiting the peace-officer exception, so the Attorney General did not treat them as authority for personal off-duty carry without a permit.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2000. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Q: Could a deputy sheriff carry a concealed weapon without a permit on an off-duty trip to another Kentucky county? A: The Attorney General said no when the trip was personal business rather than the discharge of official duties.

Q: Did the peace-officer exception cover all time off duty?
A: No. The opinion said that exception required carrying to be necessary for protection while discharging official duties. It did not need to decide whether deputies were peace officers to reject the off-duty claim.

Q: Why didn't the police-officer exemption cover deputy sheriffs?
A: The opinion treated the two positions as distinct under the statutes, noting different qualifications, and concluded that the police-officer exception did not apply to deputies.

Q: Didn't an earlier court opinion allow a deputy to carry outside his county? A: The deputy in that case was traveling to serve warrants. The Attorney General distinguished comments about off-duty carry because the later statutory text limited the peace-officer exception to official duties.

Background and statutory framework

KRS 527.020 identified categories exempt from the concealed-weapon permit requirement. The opinion focused on its peace-officer exception for official duties and its separate exception for authorized police officers. It compared police-officer and deputy-sheriff qualifications and then read the later statute against Holland, a case involving official warrant service. Its conclusion was confined to deputies outside their counties on off-duty business.

Citations and references

Statutes: KRS 527.020(2); KRS 527.020(3); KRS 61.300.

Case: Holland v. Commonwealth, 294 S.W.2d 83 (1956).

Source

• Landing page: https://kdla.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/IO_c588911d-22e9-4740-868a-ae11a40fb34f/
• Original PDF: https://kdla.access.preservica.com/download/file/IO_c588911d-22e9-4740-868a-ae11a40fb34f

Original opinion text

OAG 00-6
September 11, 2000
Subject:

Requested by:

Deputy sheriffs carrying concealed deadly weapons
out of their counties on off-duty business without a
permit
Bobby Thomas, President, Kentucky Sheriffs’ Association

Written by:

Ed Clark, Assistant Attorney General

Syllabus:

Deputy sheriffs may not carry concealed deadly
weapons out of their counties on off-duty business
without a permit

Statutes construed:
KRS 527.020; KRS 95.951; KRS 61.300; 2000
Kentucky Laws Reg. Sess. Ch. 416 (S.B. 62)
Opinion of the Attorney General
You have requested our opinion regarding whether, under KRS
527.020, a deputy sheriff is permitted to carry a concealed deadly
weapon out of the county in which he is sworn on off-duty business
without a conceal and carry permit. Your request prompts our inquiry
into who is exempt from the permit requirement for carrying a concealed deadly weapon. Under KRS 527.020, only United States mail carriers, agents and messengers of express companies, peace officers, and police officers may carry a concealed deadly weapon without a permit, and only under certain circumstances. In order to carry a concealed weapon with-

OAG 00-6
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out a permit, deputy sheriffs would have to be members of one of the
categories identified in the statute.
Deputy sheriffs clearly may not be included within the category
of U.S. mail carriers, or the category of agents and messengers of express companies. Even if deputy sheriffs could qualify as peace officers, it still would not empower them to carry concealed deadly weapons on off-duty business without a permit. Peace officers are only exempted from the prohibition against carrying concealed deadly weapons without a permit while “in the discharge of their official duties.” KRS 527.020(2). Under KRS 527.020(3), police officers directly employed by state, county, city or urban-county governments may carry concealed deadly weapons at all times within the Commonwealth of Kentucky, when expressly authorized to do so by the government employing the officer. Deputy sheriffs, however, do not qualify as police officers. The mandated qualifications for a police officer under KRS 95.951 differ from those for a deputy sheriff under KRS 61.300. A police officer must be at least twenty-one years of age and either be a high school graduate, hold a general equivalency diploma, or receive a high school diploma through participation in the external diploma program. Deputy sheriffs are not required to attain the same educational qualifications, but they may have to satisfy other requirements that are not required of police officers. For example, a deputy sheriff may be required by the sheriff to reside in the county where he is appointed within ninety days of his appointment, and to continue his residence therein during the term of his appointment. 2000 Kentucky Laws Reg. Sess. Ch. 416 (S.B. 62). Deputy sheriffs and police officers have different jobs with different qualifications. Accordingly, KRS 527.020(3), which permits police officers to carry concealed deadly weapons without a permit, does not apply to deputy sheriffs. Holland v. Commonwealth, Ky., 294 S.W.2d 83 (1956) previously addressed whether deputy sheriffs may carry concealed deadly weapons out of their counties on off-duty business without a permit. In that case, Holland, a Breathitt County deputy sheriff, was arrested, charged and prosecuted after going to Perry County to serve two arrest

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warrants. Holland was convicted of carrying a concealed deadly
weapon. Reversing the judgment against Holland, the Court found
“undisputed proof” that Holland was on “a specific journey to locate an
alleged offender for the purpose of arrest” at the time of his arrest. Id. at 86. Nevertheless, in dicta, the Court suggested that he would not have needed a permit even if he had been off-duty, stating: We also must recognize that peace officers, who at the present time work definite shifts, are still charged with the duty under their office to act in times of emergency in behalf of the people generally even if off duty. We believe the statute did not intend that in every interlude between an actual arrest or other direct duty an officer must disarm himself... Id. The Holland court suggested that deputy sheriffs should be considered peace officers and allowed to carry concealed deadly weapons without a permit. It is unnecessary to address whether deputy sheriffs may qualify as peace officers, as the dicta in Holland suggests. KRS 527.020(2), which became law subsequent to Holland, indicates that peace officers may carry a concealed deadly weapon without a permit only “when necessary for their protection in the discharge of their official duties.” Even if deputy sheriffs could qualify as “peace officers,” it would not qualify them to carry concealed deadly weapons without a permit while “off-duty.” Conclusion It is the opinion of this office that KRS 527.020 does not authorize deputy sheriffs to carry concealed deadly weapons without a permit out of their counties while on off-duty business. ALBERT B. CHANDLER III ATTORNEY GENERAL

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Ed Clark
Assistant Attorney General