The mayor of Olive Hill in Carter County was arrested Wednesday on charges that he sold marijuana to an undercover witness working with police.

Danny Sparks was arrested about 5 p.m. Wednesday, Police Chief Bobby Hall said. The Journal-Times reported on its Web site that Sparks resigned Wednesday night.

Sparks was charged with trafficking marijuana within 1,000 feet of a school, a class D felony, because the undercover buy took place in a parking lot adjacent to an elementary school, Hall said.

The arrest was made by Olive Hill police and the FADE drug task force, a coalition of officers from five police departments.

Police began investigating Sparks after tips were submitted to FADE officers, Hall said.

"We had been looking into it for some time," he said.

Police had not yet measured the quantity of pot allegedly sold by the mayor Wednesday night.

Olive Hill, the hometown of country singer Tom T. Hall, is about 80 miles east of Lexington off Interstate 64. It is about 20 miles east of Morehead.

Sparks has been mayor since before Hall took office in 2003, Hall said.

Josh Kegley: (859) 231-3197. Twitter: @HLpublicsafety.