History of the Constable

Did you know that:

“COP” originated from “Constable On Patrol”?

The office of Constable dates from Medieval England. Your Constable is an elected public official. The Constable is one of the only two remaining elected peace officers in the world. In Kentucky, the position of Constable was established in the 1850 Constitution. The present Constitution requires the election of one constable in each justice of the peace (known as magistrate) district.

Constables are Peace Officers with broad powers of arrest and authority to serve court processes. The Constable has the authority to enforce both the Traffic Code and the Criminal Code of Kentucky. They may execute warrants, summonses, subpoenas, attachments, notes, rules and orders of the court in all criminal, penal and civil cases (KRS 70.350). The Kentucky Constitution, Section 106, Constables will possess the same qualification as the sheriffs and may exercise jurisdiction in any part of the county. (OAG 62-115 and 40-776).

An elected Constable can not be barred from working in the city limits by a mayor, chief of police or by the city council but he/she must keep his office in the district which he/she is elected (OAG 74-554).

Information provided by the Kentucky Constable Association