The push to abolish Kentucky constables will continue in the 2014 legislative session, despite failed efforts in recent years. Rep. Adam Koenig, R-Erlanger, said Tuesday he will reintroduce a constitutional amendment in the 2014 session that would give fiscal courts authority to eliminate the office of constable by ordinance. Franklin County has six constables, who have law enforcement powers similar to sheriffs by law. They largely perform fee-based duties such as serving court paperwork and traffic control.Some have said it’s an antiquated office that has outlived its usefulness, but lawmakers’ efforts to abolish constables have had limited success.
During this year’s session, Koenig’s House Bill 147 cleared the House Elections, Constitutional Amendments and Intergovernmental Affairs Committee but did not get a vote in the House.
Constables gained notoriety in the state after former Jefferson County Constable David Whitlock shot a suspected shoplifter in a Walmart parking lot in November 2011. Whitlock entered an Alford plea and was placed in a diversion program.
“Is it a function that is really appropriate here in 2013, and if we were to rewrite the Constitution tomorrow, would we write constables into a new Constitution?” Koenig asked the Task Force on Elections, Constitutional Amendments and Intergovernmental Affairs Tuesday.
“My guess is we probably wouldn’t.”
John Bizzack, commissioner of the Department of Criminal Justice Training, said constables perform little law enforcement work, and local sheriff’s departments can deliver court paperwork if constables are abolished.
Most constables are untrained and work full-time jobs, he said.
But Jason Rector, president of the Kentucky Constable Association, said constables are turned away or put on waiting lists when they apply for training through the Department of Criminal Justice Training.
The association proposed a bill that would provide specific training for constables, similar to training available for jailers and coroners. The program would be paid by adding $5 to court costs, said Jeff Jacob, the group’s government affairs director.
“Eliminating us is not going to solve that problem, and I truly don’t think that that’s what our constituents would go for,” said Rector, an Adair County constable.
Some lawmakers on the interim panel said they’d like to see the matter resolved without a constitutional amendment, which must be passed by two-thirds of the House and Senate before it can be put to voters.
Senate Majority Leader Damon Thayer said other important matters could be considered as constitutional amendments in the 2014 session. Laws governing constables could be amended instead.
“Surely you all can get together over the next four months and come up with a compromise in the form of a statute and bring it to the General Assembly, and we can solve this issue once and for all,” said Thayer, R-Georgetown.
