Request By:
Hon. Edward G. May
Lincoln County Attorney
Courthouse
Stanford, Kentucky 40484
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: Reid C. James, Assistant Attorney General
This is in response to your request for an opinion of this office regarding a district court's jurisdiction to dispose of matters involving Kentucky Revised Statutes (KRS) 189.580(1), concerning one's duty to stop and assist in traffic accidents. Your concern focuses on the fact that the offense carries a potential fine in excess of $500.
KRS 189.990(1), as amended by the 1978 General Assembly, provides that any person violating KRS 189.580(1) shall be fined from $25.00 to $2,000, or be imprisoned in in the county jail for not more than one year, or both. Offenses not defined within Kentucky's penal code, which would include KRS 189.580(1), are designated as a felony or misdemeanor depending upon the length of the term of confinement. KRS 532.020(2) provides,
Any offense defined outside this code for which a law outside this code provides a sentence to a definite term of imprisonment with a maximum which falls between ninety days and twelve months shall be deemed a Class A misdemeanor.
Since KRS 189.580(1) is defined outside the penal code and has a maximum jail term of one year, it is properly classified as a misdemeanor. The maximum possible fine is irrelevant in determining the designation of the offense. Since KRS 24A.110 provides the district court with jurisdiction to dispose of all misdemeanors, it does have jurisdiction over matters involving KRS 189.580(1).
Your concern with the possibility of a $2,000 fine for violation of this statute is well founded. While the amount of the fine has no effect on the jurisdiction of the court per se, the question remains as to whether a misdemeanor defined outside the penal code may carry a fine in excess of $500 in light of KRS 532.005.
KRS 534.040(2), provides,
Except as otherwise provided for an offense defined outside this code, a person who has been convicted of any offense other than a felony may be sentenced to pay a fine in an amount not to exceed: (a) For a Class A misdemeanor$500; or(b) For a Class B misdemeanor$250; or(c) For a violation,$250.
Pursuant to the provisions of this statute, and the commentary thereto, an offense with a penalty defined outside the penal code was excepted from the $500 maximum limitation placed on fines for misdemeanors.
However, it is the opinion of this office that KRS 532.005, effective June 19, 1976, eliminated the exception set out in KRS 534.040(2) for offenses defined outside the code, thereby limiting the fine for a violation of KRS 189.580(1) to a maximum of $500.
KRS 532.005 provides,
KRS Chapters 532, 533, and 534 apply to all classes of crimes committed outside the provisions of the penal code.
In summary, it is our opinion that a district court has jurisdiction to dispose of matters involving KRS 189.580(1). However, as of June 19, 1976, any fines levied for a violation of this statute may not exceed $500.