The Kentuckian

Constable

Basic facts

Deadline to file statement of candidacy with the KY Secretary of State to run in 2026: January 9, 2026.

Requirements to run:

Term of office: 4 years, January 2027-January 2031.

Source: Kentucky Constitution, sections 99-100.

The office of constable is considered a fee office. The allowable services constables may perform for fees vary with the certification status of the constable (KRS 64.060, 64.190, and 75.350). Constables are elected under Sections 99, 100, and 142 of the constitution.

Source: LRC (2024), County Government in Kentucky. https://legislature.ky.gov/LRC/Publications/Informational%20Bulletins/ib115.pdf

Why run?

How to run is its own page.

Who's in office now?

Kentucky-County-Map

Boyd County

County commission government with 3 county commissioners.

Fayette County

Urban county council government.

Pendygraft traded rent for sexual favors from two [women] who lived at his property on Maple Avenue and a woman who lived in an apartment on North Upper Street.... When they got behind in their rent, Pendygraft gave them extra time to pay if they would perform oral sex on him.... He also encouraged them to "turn tricks" to earn rent money.... He evicted one of the women in August.... The woman who lived in the Upper Street apartment told police Dec. 22 that Pendygraft gave her "the choice of having sex with him or be evicted." Over a two-year period, that woman "had a multitude of sexual encounters with Mr. Pendygraft in order to not be evicted from her apartment..." All three women said Pendygraft always had his constable badge and holstered gun visible. Pendygraft paid a $5,000 fine... to settle the case.

Jefferson County

County metro council government. 3 fiscal court commissioners, 3 justices of the peace (magistrates), and 3 constables.

“He attended numerous state training courses between 1999 and 2004, state records show. He also was suspended from the sheriff’s office for 90 days in 1996 in connection with an incident that is not specified in agency records. He was reinstated in May 1996 and placed on probation for a year after being demoted in rank from lieutenant to deputy, according to sheriff’s office records.”

Laurel County

Fiscal court with 6 magisterial districts?

Constable Smith had been looking for Stanley, calling and leaving text messages in the days before his death.... Smith pulled over Stanley three days before the shooting. Stanley gave a false name and then ran....

[Stanley's fiancee testified,] "He called back and asked if I knew where he was, if he was still with me. I told him no. He said, well, he would get him one way or another."

Smith had received a tip that Brandon Stanley was among the handful of customers mingling inside the store. Camera footage showed Smith walking into the store, drawing his gun and positioning himself near the counter at the cash register. As Stanley, his hands raised, moved slowly down an aisle and toward the constable, Smith fired two shots.... Smith did not administer any first aid or check vitals after the shooting.... Stanley ... died ... less than 24 hours before his wedding.

Smith, 37, had been a constable for just 15 months. Like virtually all of Kentucky’s constables, he had no state-approved law enforcement training; he mainly worked at a local motorcycle dealership.

In 2015, his first year on the job, [Smith was already a menace]. After pulling over a driver for not using a turn signal, Smith chased a fleeing passenger on foot through a junkyard. Both men ended up scuffling on the ground, according to court records. Another pursuit turned out badly when Smith's car collided with the one he was trying to stop. In yet another chase, a motorist Smith was chasing ran several cars off the road before landing in a ditch.

[A month after killing Stanley,] Smith said he has support from "the whole community except the ones that's on drugs." Then, after his mother intervened and reminded Smith that his attorney had told him not to discuss anything related to the shooting, he threatened to turn loose two large, penned-up barking dogs if the reporters were not off his property in "five seconds."

Letcher County

Fiscal court. 5 Magisterial districts.

Madison County

Fiscal court. 4 Magisterial districts. Magisterial district boundary map: https://geohub-madisoncountyky.opendata.arcgis.com/datasets/madisoncountyky::magisterial-districts/explore or https://cc.madisoncountyky.us/CountyWeb/dist/saas/Ordinances/2023-12.pdf

Marion County

Fiscal court with 5 magisterial districts.

Mccracken County

County commission with 3 county commissioners.

Notes

Where can I find district boundaries?

Peer recovery specialists are facing layoffs due to changes in medicaid billing (I think in the big beautiful bill). As I understand from a friend in Wolfe County facing layoff, the education requirements are being dramatically increased to require a professional degree or cert that takes at least 2 years and a lot of money. Anyway, a peer recovery specialist would be a perfect constable. I just don't know if they could make enough money to pay their bills, because we're just getting into this. So not clear if it would be a main job or a side hustle.

As I understand it, convicted felons can run for public office in KY even if they can't vote.

Optional law enforcement powers

As of January 1, 2023, if a newly elected constable chooses to obtain law enforcement powers and become a certified peace officer, he/she shall first successfully complete all Peace Officer Professional Standards (POPS) and a Kentucky certified law enforcement basic academy (800 hours over 20 weeks). For those newly elected individuals that choose not to exercise police powers, he/she will maintain the Constable title and will be able to serve court documents and provide other duties afforded by statute but will not have arrest authority or be able to exercise the duties of a sworn law enforcement officer.

2022 HB 239 states, “After January 1, 2023, no constable who is elected for the first time or a deputy constable appointed pursuant to Section 12 of this Act shall be granted the powers generally applicable to peace officers and police officers unless the individual has been certified and maintains his or her certification pursuant to KRS 15.380.”

House Bill 239, sponsored by Rep. Adam Koenig of the 69th District of Kentucky....

[Challenger Mike Allan] Steele [businessman, transmission repair?] said, “...the courts and the attorneys are so backed up in paperwork and summons because of the fact that nothing can happen until summons get served, and it gets signed off on. There’s such a backup that that’s where the constable should be focusing.”

[Incumbent] Augustus had a differing opinion being one of the few constables in the state that the new law would not affect, having been grandfathered in.

“Koenig’s bill is what he calls a training bill,” Augustus said. “We have close to 600 constables across the state. Of them, I only know of two with the police training I find necessary. What that gets you is constables out here with no police training whatsoever and they’ve got a badge, a patrol car, a gun, and they are out here making traffic stops and arresting people with no training or experience. It’s wrong.”

source: Paducah Sun (11 May 2022). https://web.archive.org/web/20220614000318/https://www.paducahsun.com/news/two-candidates-vying-for-2nd-district-constable/article_3c773092-7592-59e4-9406-fbd8951ab7a6.html

This article, like all original content in The Kentuckian, is released into the public domain. The Kentuckian is an independent publication. It doesn't represent the opinion of the Kentucky Party or any of its committees.