Jeffery T. Pearce v. University of Louisville, by and Through Its Board of Trustees, Appellee and Stephen Derrick…

Summary

The Kentucky Supreme Court held that KRS 15.520 applies to police-disciplinary proceedings arising from both citizen complaints and intra-departmental allegations. Reading the statute as a whole, the court found no textual basis for limiting its administrative due-process protections to complaints originating outside the department and concluded that the Court of Appeals had improperly added such a limitation. Chief Justice Minton, dissenting, would have affirmed because the statute should be harmonized with Kentucky's existing, graduated disciplinary framework, while Justice Keller concurred in the majority's interpretation for additional reasons.