Request By:
Frankfort Electric & Water
Plant Board
315 West Second Street
Frankfort, Kentucky 40601
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: H. N. McTyeire, Assistant Attorney General
As pointed out in a letter from your organization, KRS 45.365 provides that the state or any of its political subdivisions may enter into a contract for the purchase of materials and supplies from certain manufacturers and distributors. This may be done without advertising because, due to the tremendous volume involved, the agreed contract price is less than the price which would be obtained by advertising for bids. The specific question relates to the right of the Electric and Water Plant Board of the City of Frankfort to take advantage of the terms of the federal contract and to buy directly from manufacturers which participate in the federal contract.
In our opinion your organization may do so. Under the provisions of KRS 45.365 the Electric and Water Plant Board of the City of Frankfort is an agency of the city. As early as 1819 the United States Supreme Court held that a sovereign may carry on its activities by organizing a corporation for such purposes.
McCulloch v. Maryland, 4 Wheat (U.S.) 316, 4 L. Ed. 579 (1819). To the same effect see
Briscoe v. The Bank of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, 11 Peters (U.S.) 257, 9 L. Ed. 709, 733.
It is therefore our opinion that an agency of the city is entitled to participate in the advantages of the federal contract to the same extent as would the City of Frankfort.