Request By:
Honorable W. C. Flannery
Rowan County Judge/Executive
Courthouse
Morehead, Kentucky
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: Charles W. Runyan, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
You mention in your letter and in our telephone conversation the fact that the fiscal court has decided to hold meetings at night. This would mean that the county judge/executive and the county clerk would undoubtedly be putting in time that would exceed the normal rate of 8 hours a day for a five day work week. Therefore, your first question reads:
"Can the Fiscal Court order the elected constituted offices to any extra duty more than eight hours per day or more than five days per week, a total of 40 hours per week?"
KRS 67.090 treats the subject of the fiscal court meetings as to place and time. The statute authorizes the county judge to fix the dates for the commencement of the regular terms of fiscal court. The power to fix a date includes the power to fix a reasonable hour on the date chosen. The reasonableness of a particular hour depends upon all the circumstances, including the convenience or inconvenience of the fiscal court members. Thus the fiscal court may meet at night if, after considering all the circumstances involved, the time selected is reasonable.
Question No. 2:
"Can a Fiscal Court call any special meetings with the Court Judge still in the County, without notifying the County Judge or without his presence?"
Under KRS 67.090(3) whenever a special term is necessary and the county judge/executive is unable, or refuses to act on such matter, a majority of the members of the fiscal court may call the special term. Suppose the majority of the fiscal court feels that a special term is necessary and they call up the county judge/executive to call a special term, and he either is unable to call the special term or he refuses to call the special term; then under the statute a majority of the members of the fiscal court may call the special term. However, in order to give validity to the actions of the fiscal court in such special term, each member of the fiscal court, including the county judge/executive, must have personal notice of the time and place when and where the meeting is to be held, if it is practical to give such notice. But if all members are present at such special term, the failure to give notice is remedied. See
Meadors v. Williams, 163 Ky. 398, 173 S.W. 1114 (1951). Also see
Combs v. Center, 234 Ky. 364, 28 S.W.2d 37 (1930) 39.
Question No. 3:
"Can the County Judge-Executive so enter upon the records of a Court meeting an order that a order placed thereon by the Fiscal Court is unconstitutional and therefore is void and null?"
To begin with, the county judge/executive no longer has any judicial authority. The order stating that a fiscal court order is unconstitutional is of the nature of a judicial or quasi-judicial action. Thus the county judge/executive has no authority to place such an order on the order book of the fiscal court. The fiscal court acts as a body and through its orders. The county judge/executive has no authority to enter a fiscal court order since he is only one member of a fiscal court; and it must act as a body. The question as to whether or not a fiscal court order is constitutional or not is one primarily for the courts. We are speaking about the Court of Justice as described in Section 109 of the Kentucky Constitution.