Request By:
Mr. Clyde N. Sanders
Magistrate, Second District
P.O. Box 271
Russellville, Kentucky 42276
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 16 in which you relate the following facts and question:
"As you know we had a suit filed against Election Commissioners, not to count the absentee ballots in the May 24th Primary in Logan County. This trial lasted five (5) days.
"My question is: Does Logan County Fiscal Court owe these Commissioners for the five (5) days spent in this trial?"
Our response to your question would be in the negative. KRS 117.035 (2) contains the following provision:
". . . Compensation of members shall be set by the fiscal court at not less than fifteen dollars ($15) per day for each day the board meets."
Subsection (4) provides the following:
"(4) The board shall meet at least once a month and may meet more frequently if necessary. The board shall stay in session on election days to correct clerical errors and rule on questions regarding voter registration and are authorized to make to the election officers such certifications as may be necessary. On said days appeals may be made to the county judge or circuit judge, as the case may be, except that in cities of the first class all appeals shall be made to a circuit judge."
The above sections of KRS 117.035 clearly indicate that the compensation of board members is limited to an amount not less than fifteen dollars ($15) for each day that they meet to perform their duties relating to the appointment of election officers, registration, purgation, counting of ballots, etc., as outlined in subsection (4) and the related statutes pertaining to elections. In other words, the five (5) days spent in court could not be considered meeting days under KRS 117.035 for which compensation could be claimed.