Request By:
Ms. Edna M. Rice
City Clerk-Treasurer
P.O. Box 157
Hawesville, Kentucky 42348Mr. Ray Patton
Chief of Police
P.O. Box 157
Hawesville, Kentucky 42348
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: Thomas R. Emerson, Assistant Attorney General
This is in reply to your letters raising questions concerning the enforcement of city ordinances under the new Judicial System which began January 2, 1978, and the disposition of the monies collected pursuant to the enforcement of those ordinances.
Ms. Rice asks whether a city of the fifth class may collect fines pertaining to parking, city vehicle stickers, business licenses, etc., set forth in city ordinances. Chief Patton asks whether a fifth class city may collect fines set forth in city ordinances or whether those monies go through the Circuit Clerk of the county under the new court system. He also mentions KRS 65.120 concerning revenues from fees, fines and forfeitures related to parking.
At the outset we direct your attention to KRS 24A.110, concerning the criminal jurisdiction of the district court. It provides in part that the district court shall have exclusive jurisdiction to make final disposition of all criminal matters, including violations of county, urbancounty, or city ordinances or codes except offenses denominated by statute as felonies or capital offenses and offenses punishable by death or imprisonment in the penitentiary. That same statute also provides that the district court has exclusive jurisdiction 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, and all violations of county, urban-county, or city ordinances.
KRS 30A.120 provides in part that every circuit clerk shall collect all fines and forfeitures imposed in district and circuit court and shall pay over to the Department of Finance all costs, fines, forfeitures and other monies reported to the department. KRS 30A.190 states that all fees, fines, forfeitures and costs in any district court or circuit court case shall be collected and accounted for by the circuit court clerk and paid into the state treasury, except that sixty percent of any fine imposed for the violation of Chapter 150 shall when collected be paid into the fish and game fund. In connection with these provisions see OAG 77-439, copy enclosed. KRS 65.120 provides that all revenue generated from fees, fines and forfeitures related to parking shall continue to be retained by those governmental entities receiving such monies on December 31, 1976, unless the fine is collected as a result of action taken in the Court of Justice, in which case those fines also would go into the state treasury.
In response to the loss of revenue occasioned by cities and counties because of fines, forfeitures and certain fees going into the state treasury as of January 2, 1978, the General Assembly enacted KRS 24A.190 through 24A.192. Provisions are made for returning to the cities and counties the "net court revenue" as determined by the statutes. This process is more fully explained in OAG's 78-600 and 77-681, copies enclosed.
Therefore, in response to your questions, the enforcement of city ordinances is generally within the exclusive jurisdiction of the district court and all fees, fines, forfeitures and costs in any district court case shall be collected and accounted for by the circuit court clerk and paid into the state treasury. The city does not receive fines imposed by the district court and collected by the circuit court clerk but the city, pursuant to KRS 24A.190 through 24A.192, may have funds returned to it if it qualifies under those statutes.