Request By:
Barbara M. Williams
State Librarian
Department of Library and Archives
P.O. Box 537
Frankfort, Kentucky 40602
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; Mark F. Armstrong, Assistant Attorney General
We are in receipt of your letter in which you ask whether KRS 173.340(3) applies to library districts formed under KRS 173.450 et seq.
KRS Chapter 173 sets forth several methods whereby library services are provided in four sets of statutes: (1) KRS 173.010 to 173.107 relates to library services in cities of the first class; (2) KRS 173.300 to 173.410 relates to library services in cities of the second class; (3) KRS 173.450 to 173.650 relates to the formation of public library districts and (4) KRS 173.710 to 173.800 relates to the formation of library districts by petition. The third and fourth sets of statutes are very similar. Whether they are to be interpreted with each other or independently is an issue we do not reach. The first and second sets of statutes stand independently of each other and of the third and fourth sets, regardless of whether the third and fourth sets are taken as a unit or separately.
Accordingly, KRS 173.340(2), a statute in the second set, does not apply to libraries operating under the third set. Specifically, it is improper to supply the omission of the provisions of KRS 173.340(3) in KRS 173.450 et seq. when it does not appear that this provision was contemplated by the legislature in enacting these latter statutes, cf.
Bedinger v. Graybill's Executor & Trustee, Ky. 302 S.W.2d 594 (1957) albeit these statutes are in pari materia, cf.
Smither v. Commonwealth, Ky., 342 S.W.2d 521 (1960), but the express mention of the provision of KRS 173.320(3) in the second set of statutes and the omission thereof in the third set enforces the inference that the omission was intentional, cf.
Wade v. Commonwealth, Ky., 303 S.W.2d 905 (1957).
Your second question is what is the accountability of libraries formed under the third and fourth sets of statutes to the county judge/executive. These libraries are managed by a board of trustees, see KRS 173.520 and 173.745. These two statutes set forth the duties and powers of the board.
Although the county judge/executive appoints the members of the board, see KRS 173.480 and 173.725, the boards as appointed are an independent entity, see KRS 173.500 and 173.735. These boards are not made accountable to the county judge/executive in the statutes setting forth their powers and duties, see KRS 173.520 and 173.745. The boards are required to make an annual report to your department and file a copy of it with the county court clerk, see KRS 173.570 and 173.770.
While the third and fourth sets of statutes in KRS Chapter 173 do not make the boards created thereunder accountable to the county judge/executive, the situation is changed by the provisions of KRS Chapter 67. KRS 67.710 provides that the county judge/executive has the responsibility to:
". . . .
(3) Furnish the fiscal court with information concerning the operations of the county departments, boards, or commissions, necessary for the fiscal court to exercise its powers or as requested by the fiscal court;
(4) Require all officials, elected or appointed, whose offices utilize county funds, and all boards, special districts, and commissions exclusive of city governments and their agencies located within the county to make a detailed annual financial report to the fiscal court concerning the business and condition of their office, department, board, commission, or special districts;
. . . ."
Thus, under KRS 67.710(4), the county judge/executive has the authority to require the library boards to furnish an annual financial statement. The boards are also required to file the annual statements required by KRS 173.570 and 173.770. Further, the county judge/executive is required by KRS 67.710(3) to furnish information to the fiscal court at its request concerning the operations of boards, including library boards. Placing this duty on the county judge/executive necessarily implies that he has authority to fulfill his responsibility, cf.
National Surety Co. v. Commonwealth, 253 Ky. 607, 69 S.W.2d 1007 (1934). Accordingly, the county judge/executive has authority to require the library boards to submit to him such information concerning its operations as from time to time the fiscal court may require.
Your third question is whether an elected courty official can serve on a library board created under the third or fourth set of statutes in KRS Chapter 173. We have examined KRS 61.080 and find that an elected county official may serve on the library board unless he is a commissioner of the fiscal court in counties containing a city of the first class.
Summary: We are of the opinion that (1) KRS 173.340(3) does not apply to boards formed under KRS 173.450 to 173.650 and 173.710 to 173.800; and (2) the board of a library established under KRS 173.450 to 173.650 and 173.710 to 173.800 has the duty to file with the county judge/executive an annual report and such other reports the fiscal court may require; and (3) an elected county official, except a commissioner of the fiscal court of a county containing a first class city, may serve on the board of a library formed under KRS 173.450 to 173.650 or 173.710 to 173.800. This opinion is limited and extends no further than the expression of it in this Summary.