Did a Kentucky deputy sheriff become probationary when the county created a merit board?

Plain-English summary

In 1993, Kentucky's Attorney General said a county's creation of a deputy sheriff merit board did not make deputies already on the job probationary again. The statute described probation as applying "during the first year of service," which the AG read as the first year after appointment, not the first year after a merit board ordinance took effect.

That answer did not excuse long-serving deputies from a separate training rule. A deputy serving when the county adopted the ordinance had one year from its effective date to complete 400 hours of training approved by the Kentucky Law Enforcement Council. The opinion said the deputy would forfeit the position if that training was not completed on time, regardless of years of uninterrupted service.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1993. 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.

Historical summary

Deputies serving when a merit board was created

The AG separated employment status from training. The new ordinance did not restart the deputy's first year of service for probation purposes. It did start the one-year period to finish the training described in KRS 70.263(1).

County sheriffs and merit boards

The opinion found no exception in the merit-board statutes for a deputy's long, uninterrupted service. It said KRS 70.263(3) required forfeiture of the position if the training was not completed within the applicable year.

Newly appointed deputies

The AG read KRS 70.267's "first year of service" as the first year after appointment. The opinion quoted a separate training provision for deputies appointed after a merit board existed, with their one-year training period running from appointment.

Common questions

Did a merit board ordinance start a new probationary year for veteran deputies?

No. The AG said the statute's probationary period referred to the first year after a person's appointment as deputy sheriff.

Did years of service excuse a deputy from the new training requirement?

No. The opinion said the statute provided no exception based on uninterrupted service. A deputy already serving when the ordinance took effect had one year to complete 400 hours of approved training.

What happened if an incumbent deputy missed the training deadline?

The AG said KRS 70.263(3) required that deputy to forfeit the position immediately when the one-year period expired.

Background and statutory framework

McCracken County Attorney Fred H. Grimes asked whether deputies with long uninterrupted service became probationary during the first year after a county adopted a deputy sheriff merit board ordinance. The AG answered the status question under KRS 70.267 and the separate training and forfeiture questions under KRS 70.263(1) and (3). The opinion addressed the law as it stood in July 1993.

Citations and references

• KRS 70.263(1): one-year approved-training requirement for deputies serving when the ordinance took effect.
• KRS 70.263(3): forfeiture after the applicable training deadline.
• KRS 70.267: probation "during the first year of service."

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.ky.gov/Resources/Opinions/Opinions/OAG93-051.htm

Original opinion text

OAG 93-51

July 1, 1993

Hon. Fred H. Grimes

McCracken County attorney

McCracken County Courthouse

301 South Sixth Street

Paducah, Kentucky 42003

RE: Whether or Not the Employment Status of Deputy Sheriffs With Long Uninterrupted Service Becomes "Probationary" for the First Year Following the Effective Date of an Ordinance Establishing a Deputy Sheriff Merit Board. KRS 70.260 et seq.

AGO Corr. No. 93-(O)-778.

Dear Mr. Grimes:

By letter of May 27, 1993, you ask, in substance, whether or not the employment status of a deputy sheriff, who has many years of uninterrupted service, is "probationary" during the first year following enactment of a deputy sheriff merit board ordinance by the county in which he or she is so employed.

In our view, while a deputy sheriff, who was serving in that capacity on the effective date of a local ordinance establishing a deputy sheriff merit board, is required to obtain certain training within one year of that effective date, or forfeit the position of deputy sheriff, a deputy's employment status is not rendered "probationary" by virtue of that training requirement, or by virtue of any other statutory language related to deputy sheriff merit boards. Discussion follows.

KRS 70.263 provides:

(1) Each person serving as a deputy sheriff on the effective date of an ordinance that creates a deputy sheriff merit board for the county in which he serves shall, within one (1) year following the effective date of that ordinance, successfully complete at least four hundred (400) hours of training approved by the Kentucky Law Enforcement Council.

(2) Each person appointed as a deputy sheriff in a county that has adopted a deputy sheriff merit board before the date of his appointment shall, within one (1) year following the appointment, successfully complete at lest four hundred (400) hours of training approved by the Kentucky Law Enforcement Council.

(3) A person failing to meet the requirements of this section shall forfeit his position as deputy sheriff immediately upon the expiration of the applicable one (1) year time limit.

It will be noticed from a plain reading of KRS 70.263(1)(see above), that a deputy sheriff, serving as such on the effective date of an ordinance creating a deputy sheriff merit board, is given one year from the effective date of that ordinance in which to successfully complete 400 hours of training approved by the Kentucky Law Enforcement Council. It will also be noticed from such a reading, that KRS 70.263(3) provides that a person failing to meet the requirements of "this section" (meaning KRS 70.263) "shall forfeit his position as deputy sheriff immediately upon the expiration of the one year time limit."

There is no language in KRS 70.263, or elsewhere in the statutory provisions concerning a deputy sheriff merit board, that provides for relief, based upon one's term of uninterrupted service (or for other reasons), from the mandatory forfeiture of one's position as a deputy sheriff, as directed by KRS 70.263(3), if training is not obtained in keeping with KRS 70.263.

Despite the fact that the continued employment of a deputy sheriff, who was serving as such on the effective date of an ordinance establishing a deputy sheriff merit board, is made contingent upon obtaining certain training within a specified time period, such fact does not render the deputy's employment status as "probationary," as that term is generally used in connection with employment.

It is perhaps common in governmental employment, for one who has just been hired, to be in a probationary status for a period of time, e.g., a year, subsequent to being hired. In the case of deputy sheriffs covered by deputy sheriff merit board provisions (KRS 70.260 et seq.), for example, KRS 70.267 expressly provides that the employment of a deputy sheriff is probationary "during the first year of service." The words "first year of service" refer, in our view, to the first year of service subsequent to appointment of a person as a deputy sheriff.

A review of the deputy sheriff merit board provisions does not disclose any language within those provisions that would place a deputy sheriff (which might include one with a number of years of uninterrupted service), so serving on the effective date of an ordinance establishing a deputy sheriff merit board in the county of the officer's employment, in a "probationary" employment status.

We emphasize that while a deputy sheriff (including one with substantial uninterrupted service in that capacity) who was serving as such on the effective date of an ordinance establishing a deputy sheriff merit board in the county in which he or she is so employed, is not, by virtue of statutory provisions related to deputy sheriff merit boards, placed in a "probationary" employment status, he or she still has only one year, following the effective date of such ordinance, in which to successfully complete required training. KRS 70.263(1). In the case of a person serving as a deputy sheriff on the effective date of an ordinance creating a deputy sheriff merit board, if the training required of such officer is not successfully completed within one year following the effective date of that ordinance, the deputy sheriff will, by operation of law, forfeit his or her position as a deputy sheriff. KRS 70.263(3).

Sincerely,

CHRIS GORMAN

ATTORNEY GENERAL

Gerard R. Gerhard

Assistant Attorney General

(502) 564-7600

GRG:par