Request By:
Mr. James Hite Hays
Shelby County Attorney
501 Main Street
Shelbyville, Kentucky 40065
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: Carl Miller, Assistant Attorney General
You have requested an opinion of the Attorney General as to whether the Shelby County Fiscal Court may accept a bond from a business corporation for the repair of a county road which the corporation is regularly using to transport loads in excess of the lawful weight limits.
There is no statutory authority for a fiscal court to permit overweight vehicles on county roads or to require or accept a bond for such a practice. We believe that this is the type of procedure which would require expressed authority by statute.
While the statutes are silent as to allowing a fiscal court to grant overweight permits, they provide that the Department of Transportation may issue such permits for occasional overweight use of state highways. KRS 189.222. Administrative regulation 603KAR5:075 provides that applications for overload and overdimension permits shall be made to the Department of Transportation, Permit Section, Division of Motor Carriers, Frankfort, Kentucky 40601. A permit is required for each trip and each vehicle and the fee for these permits if $15 each.
In summary, it is our opinion that the county is not legally authorized to accept a bond for the day-to-day use of a county road by trucks weighing substantially in excess of the legal limits, and any such use constitutes a violation of law and may be cited to the district court.