Turner v. Cole

559 S.W.2d 170, 1977 Ky. App. LEXIS 861
CourtCourt of Appeals of Kentucky
DecidedDecember 2, 1977
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 559 S.W.2d 170 (Turner v. Cole) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Kentucky primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Turner v. Cole, 559 S.W.2d 170, 1977 Ky. App. LEXIS 861 (Ky. Ct. App. 1977).

Opinion

GANT, Judge.

Appellant, Jewell Turner, was the Chief of Police in Providence, Kentucky, a city of the fourth class, having been appointed to fill out the unexpired term of his resigned predecessor. On October 27, 1975, the “lame duck” city council enacted an ordinance adopting the provisions of “Sections 90.310 to 90.410 of the Kentucky Revised Statutes” and applying them to “all employees in the Police and Fire Departments of the City of Providence except as specifically included (sic) from time to time.” A civil service commission was created, its members sworn in, but no pension fund was created nor was any tax levied or provided for. On December 22,1975, the same “lame duck” council “voted” to include all other departments of the city under Civil Service but did not enact an ordinance to that effect. On January 5, 1976, a new council was in office and voted to repeal the ordinance of October 27, 1975, and did not rehire the appellant but hired a new Police Chief, one Raymond Ray. This action was filed by appellant seeking restoration to his position as Chief of Police, which was denied by the Webster Circuit Court in a summary judgment. In that action, a motion to intervene was filed by two members of the Civil Service Commission, Delores J. Rickard and John Anthony, and by a city employee who was not a member of the police or fire department, David L. Cullen. This motion was denied.

There are four questions presented to this Court. The first is whether a city of the fourth class can adopt the provisions of KRS 90.300 to KRS 90.420 and apply them to police and fire departments. Those particular sections include KRS 90.300(2) which provides:

The provisions of KRS 90.310 to KRS 90.410 are independent of and do not affect the laws governing the police and fire departments, nor their pension funds, in cities of the second and third classes.

The conflict occurs when we consider KRS 95.761, which section is contained under the chapter entitled “City Police and Fire Departments” and states in pertinent part as follows:

(1) Any city of the fourth or fifth class which has now, or in which there may be hereafter established a regular police or fire department in the future, may by ordinance create a civil service commission, whose duties shall be to hold examinations as to the qualifications of applicants for employment within the police or fire departments.
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(3) A city of the fourth or fifth class is authorized to adopt the provisions of KRS 90.300 to 90.420 governing civil service, the same as a city of the third class.

Thus we have one provision which says that cities of the fourth and fifth class have the same rights concerning the civil service commission statute as a city of the third class and another statute stating that a city of the third class cannot apply those sections to a police or fire Department. The question presented is one of statutory construction. The courts have long held that “where two statutes seemingly conflict, courts must harmonize them and give them such construction as will give effect to each if possible.” General Motors Acceptance Corporation v. Shuey, 243 Ky. 74, 47 S.W.2d 968 (1932); Tubbs v. Commonwealth, 248 Ky. 24, 58 S.W.2d 236 (1933); Lewis v. Moseley, 215 Ky. 573, 286 S.W. 793 (1926). In Louisville Railway Company v. Dugan, 179 Ky. 825, 201 S.W. 324 (1918), it was said: “An often invoked rule of construction, where two acts or sections of the statutes appear to conflict, requires that each section or act shall be given meaning which will most completely effectuate the legislative intention without running counter to the other, thus harmonizing and bringing the two into a consistent whole.”

The provisions of KRS 90.300 to 90.420 set out the means of creating a civil service commission. It includes the method of passing an ordinance, the method for appointment of members by the mayor, the terms of office of the members, etc. KRS 95.761(1) granted to cities of the fourth or fifth class the right to create a civil service [173]*173commission but made no provision for the steps as set out in KRS 90.300 to 90.420. Without provisions for the method of appointment and terms of office there could hardly be a commission set up to “hold examinations as to the qualifications of applicants for employment within the police or fire departments.” The statutes are quite different relating to cities of the second and third class. In those two classes of cities, the examinations are conducted by the legislative body and thus there is no necessity for establishing a civil service commission for that purpose. Another indication of legislative intent is clearly shown by an examination of KRS 95.762, which provides in Paragraph (1): “The commission shall require all applicants for appointment as members of the police and fire departments to be examined as to their qualifications . . . ”

Thus, it is the opinion of this Court that the exclusionary provisions of KRS 90.-300(2) are not applicable to cities of the fourth and fifth class and that the ordinance adopted October 27, 1975, was valid and applied to all employees of the police' and fire departments of the City of Providence. In this respect, the judgment of the lower court is reversed.

The second question presented to the Court is whether the ordinance could be repealed by the action of the “new council” of January 5,1976. KRS 95.761(4) provides as follows:

The legislative body of the city of the fourth or fifth class after adoption of the provisions of KRS 95.520 to 95.620 relating to a policemen’s and firemen’s pension plan or KRS 90.300 to 90.420 relating to a civil service, may not revoke, rescind or repeal these adoptions.

It is our opinion that the statute is quite clear.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
559 S.W.2d 170, 1977 Ky. App. LEXIS 861, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/turner-v-cole-kyctapp-1977.