Request By:
James S. Secrest, Esq.
Allen County Attorney
210 West Main Street
Scottsville, Kentucky 42164
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: Thomas R. Emerson, Assistant Attorney General
This is in reply to your letter asking whether the Circuit Court or the District Court has jurisdiction over plumbing code violations. You cite KRS 318.190 (jurisdiction for enforcement actions), KRS 318.990 (penalties) and KRS 24A.110 (criminal jurisdiction of the district court).
KRS 318.190 provides as follows:
"(1) The circuit court where the violation occurs shall have jurisdiction and venue in all civil, criminal, and injunctive actions instituted by the department for the enforcement of the provisions of KRS Chapter 318 and the state plumbing code and the orders issued thereunder and the rules and regulations of the secretary for natural resources and environmental protection.
(2) The Franklin Circuit Court shall hold concurrent jurisdiction and venue in all civil, criminal and injunctive actions instituted by the department, or upon the secretary's request by the attorney general, for the enforcement of the provisions of KRS Chapter 318, the state plumbing code and the orders issued thereunder and other rules and regulations of the department."
KRS 318.990 states:
"Any person who violates any provision of this chapter or any regulation adopted hereunder or any provision of the state plumbing code shall be fined not less than ten dollars ($10.00) nor more than one hundred dollars ($100) or imprisoned for not more than ninety (90) days or both for each offense. Each day the violation continues shall constitute a separate offense."
KRS 24A.110 provides that the district court shall have exclusive jurisdiction to make final disposition of all criminal matters except offenses denominated by statute as felonies or capital offenses and offenses punishable by death or imprisonment in the penitentiary. The district court also has exclusive jurisdiction under KRS 24A.110(2) to make a final disposition of any charge or a public offense denominated as a misdemeanor or violation, except where the charge is joined with an indictment for a felony. KRS 24A.010 provides in part that the district court is a court of limited jurisdiction. See also Section 113 of the Kentucky Constitution.
Jurisdiction for the enforcement of the provisions of KRS Chapter 318, the state plumbing code and orders issued thereunder, and other rules and regulations of the Department for Natural Resources and Environmental Protection is specifically provided for in the Circuit Court where the violation occurs or concurrently in the Franklin Circuit Court. We do not find any express statutory authority granting district courts the jurisdiction to enforce the provisions of KRS Chapter 318, the state plumbing code and rules and regulations of the Department for Natural Resources and Environmental Protection.
In Crabtree v. Commonwealth, Ky., 278 S.W.2d 732 (1955), the Court said that where a general statute gave broader jurisdiction to a quarterly court for penal cases in general but a specific statute governing jurisdiction in local option cases gave a more restricted jurisdiction, the specific statute governed in a prosecution for a violation under the local option provisions. Thus, while KRS 24A.110 gives broader jurisdiction to a district court for misdemeanor cases in general, KRS 318.190, governing violations of KRS Chapter 318, the state plumbing code and other rules and regulations of the Department for Natural Resources and Environmental Protection, gives a more restricted jurisdiction, and the specific statute (KRS 318.190) governs in a prosecution for an offense covered by KRS Chapter 318.
Therefore, in our opinion, the circuit court shall have exclusive jurisdiction for the enforcement of the provisions of KRS Chapter 318, the state plumbing code and other rules and regulations of the Department for Natural Resources and Environmental Protection. See OAG 76-401, copy enclosed.