Form of Government
City governments in Kentucky operate under one of three models: mayor-council, commission or city manager. In 2024, the voters of the City of Covington elected to transition from the city manager form, in which the four-person board of commissioners appoints a city manager who acts as the chief administrative officer for the city, to a mayor-council form.
The mayor-council plan operates much like any executive-legislative form of government. The council, as the legislative body, performs legislative duties such as enacting ordinances, levying taxes, and adopting a budget. The mayor holds executive powers such as vetoing legislation, overseeing personnel, and managing the daily affairs of the city. The mayor may also vote to break most ties in council meetings.
Council Size
City councils in Kentucky can have anywhere between six and 12 council members; city commissions and city manager plans can only have four commissioners. The City of Covington’s Board of Commissioners must determine the number of council members that the city will have prior to November 5, 2025.
Method of Election
Prior to November 5, 2025, the City of Covington’s Board of Commissioners must determine whether to institute at-large voting, a district/ward system, or a hybrid version.
- At-Large
KRS 83A.040 establishes, absent a district/ward system, that council members may be elected at large by the voters of each city at a regular election. This is the current method of election utilized by the City of Covington.
- District/Ward System & Hybrid
KRS 83A. 100 (1) provides that a legislative body of a city may by ordinance divide the city into wards by either of the following methods:
(a) The city may create the same number of wards as the number of legislative body members. Wards shall be as nearly equal in population as practicable and their boundaries shall be fixed by the ordinance: or
(b) The city may establish a hybrid ward system for the conduct of its legislative body elections. A city acting under this paragraph shall provide in the ordinance that a specific number of legislative body seats shall be subject to the ward system and that a specific number of legislative body seats shall be elected at large within the entire city without representing a particular ward. The wards created under this paragraph shall be as nearly equal in population as practicable and their boundaries shall be fixed by ordinance.
If a city is divided into wards, council members shall be nominated and elected in the regular November election at large, but each candidate shall reside in the ward he or she seeks to represent and shall be elected in such a manner that each ward is equally represented on the council.
Non-Partisan & Partisan Elections
Municipal governments can decide on their own whether or not they want to elect their councils in a partisan manner. According to the Kentucky League of Cities, the number of Kentucky’s 400-plus cities that do so are in the single digits. If the City of Covington’s Board of Commissioners elected to switch to partisan elections, it would have to decide such by November 5, 2025. The procedural processes of partisan and nonpartisan elections are governed by KRS 83A.045.