Columbia City Council member and former mayor Mark Harris withdrew from the November city council race Tuesday after questions arose over whether Kentucky law allows him to serve on the council while also working as a deputy sheriff and school resource officer.
Harris, who has served as a school resource officer through the Adair County Sheriff’s Office since 2018, said he decided to withdraw rather than allow questions about his eligibility to become an issue for the city or the other candidates seeking council seats.
“I don’t want to be a hindrance to the city council or those running,” Harris said. “I want things to be on the up and up. And if I’m not supposed to run, then we won’t.”
The issue came to Harris’ attention following a recent article by Brennan Crain of Barrenside.com examining a similar situation involving a school resource officer seeking a city council seat.
Kentucky law treats certain public positions as “offices” rather than simply employment, and longstanding attorney general guidance indicates the offices of deputy sheriff and city council member are incompatible. Kentucky’s current annotated school laws cite an attorney general opinion stating that a person m...