Request By:
Honorable Thomas O. Harris
Commissioner of Agriculture
Department of Agriculture
Capital Plaza Tower
Frankfort, Kentucky
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: Walter C. Herdman, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
This is in answer to your letter of September 19 in which you relate that the sale of state dog licenses has steadily declined, thereby creating a decline in the amount of livestock funds available to pay valid claims resulting from the destruction of cattle by stray dogs. The reduction of license sales has also reduced the amount of money refunded to the various counties used to hire dog wardens and meet dog pound expenses. In an effort to increase the sale of dog tags, the idea has been presented to authorize members of the 4-H Clubs throughout the state to sell tags and retain the twenty-five cents (25 ) fee that dog wardens are entitled to retain for each tag sold. Your question is whether this proposal would be consistent with the provisions of KRS Ch. 258.
Our response to your question would be in the affirmative providing it is initiated pursuant to KRS 258.135. This statute contains the following provision applicable to your question:
". . . Dog wardens shall be agents of the commonwealth in the collection of the license fees provided for herein, unless the department determines, with the approval of the governor, to issue all licenses either directly or through other agents. For services rendered in collecting and paying over same, dog wardens shall be allowed to retain the sum of twenty-five cents (25 ) for each license. . . ." (Emphasis added.)
Under the provision of the above quoted excerpt of KRS 258.135 you will note that the Department of Agriculture may determine on its own, with the approval of the governor, to issue dog licenses through other agents. The term "agent" means a person authorized by another to act on his account and under his control or, in another sense, an "agent" is one who by the authority of another undertakes to do something for another and to render account of it. See Simons v. Vaughn and Blackwell, 165 Ky. 167, 176 S.W. 995 (1915); and City of Covington v. Reynolds, 240 Ky. 86, 41 S.W.2d 664 (1931). It has also been held that to be an "agent" one does not have to be regularly employed by the principal. Anderson v. Hall (Texas), 137 S.W.2d 854.
KRS 258.135 also contains language implying that if the Department determines to issue licenses either directly or through other agents, "all" licenses are to be so issued; however, we do not believe that the legislature intended such a restrictive interpretation as to prevent Dog Wardens from continuing to sell tags at the same time they are sold by the Department or its agents as this would reach an absurd and impractical conclusion. Reeves v. Fidelity & Columbia Trust Co., 293 Ky. 544, 169 S.W.2d 621 (1943).
Under the circumstances, we believe that the Department of Agriculture, with the approval of the governor, could authorize members of 4-H Clubs throughout the state to act as agents of the Department for the purpose of selling dog licenses and receive for such services a 25 fee for each license sold. The Department, of course, must maintain complete control over such an operation and the 4-H Club members must be made accountable for the dog licenses placed in their possession and the money derived from their sale.