OAG 78-222 | KOGC

Request By:

Mr. John Swinford
Attorney at Law
Cynthiana, Kentucky 41031

Opinion

Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: Charles W. Runyan, Assistant Deputy Attorney General

The Harrison County Water Association is about to extend its existing water lines and expects to have numerous volunteer workers solicit easements from land-owners in order to lay the lines. The association would like to have the volunteers appointed to be deputy county clerks so they can take acknowledgments and cause the easement documents to be recordable.

You ask: Can such deputies be appointed by the county clerk?

It is our opinion that the only legal deputy county clerks are those appointed by the clerk to fill actual positions authorized by proper orders of fiscal court under KRS 64.530. See

Funk v. Milliken, Ky., 317 S.W.2d 499 (1958).

See OAG 72-815, copy enclosed, of related interest. The question about oaths and bonds for such appointees, being academic under the answer to the first question, does not require an answer.

The solution would be for the association to get volunteers who have notarial commissions.

LLM Summary

In OAG 78-222, the Attorney General opines that deputy county clerks can only be legally appointed by the county clerk if they fill actual positions authorized by proper orders of the fiscal court under KRS 64.530. The opinion addresses a query regarding the potential appointment of volunteers by the Harrison County Water Association as deputy county clerks to handle easement documents. The decision references OAG 72-815 for related interest, suggesting it provides additional context or precedent related to the matter.

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