Request By:
Stuard Wegener
Assistant County Attorney
404 City-County Building
Covington, Kentucky 41011
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By William S. Riley, Assistant Attorney General
In your recent letter to the Attorney General, an opinion is requested concerning the legality of a proposed sheriff's sale of certificates of delinquency over three years of age and less than eight years of age. The sale is to be conducted at the direction of the County Attorney's Office and supervised by him. It is proposed that the sheriff make a certificate and tax deed. Title experts are to arrive at their own opinion as to the legality of the sale. The sheriff will record the certificate and deed and make full settlement with the county clerk. Additional questions are: (1) What is the basis for a fee for the sheriff, and (2) Would an appraisal be required under this procedure?
The disposal of certificates of delinquency is provided for in KRS 134.490. An action can be instituted by the holder of a certificate against the delinquent taxpayer to collect the amount of the certificate, institute an action to enforce the lien provided for in subsection (1) of KRS 134.420, where the certificate is more than three years of age, or institute an action including both of the above types of actions.
If the state, county or a taxing district is the owner of a certificate, it shall have in addition to the above, the right to distrain and sell property owned by the delinquent. The property must be sold in the manner provided for in KRS 134.430 and KRS 134.440. The county attorney is required to designate the property subject to distraint and the sheriff to take custody thereof. Where property is sold pursuant to judgment of foreclosure, it is not required to be appraised and no right of redemption is provided for. Where there is no purchaser at a foreclosure sale, the master commissioner may make a deed to the person or persons shown by record to be the owner of the certificate of delinquency.
The answer therefore to your question is that the proposed method of disposal of certificates of delinquency by a sheriff's sale and the preparation of a deed by the sheriff and settlement with the county clerk would violate the statute.