Request By:
Honorable Harold Stumbo
District Judge
Prestonsburg, Kentucky
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: Charles W. Runyan, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
You ask whether you can appoint commonwealth detectives. We can find no statute giving the district court judge that power. Cf. KRS 69.110, relating to circuit detectives.
Who fills a vacancy in the office of sheriff and county clerk? Under KRS 63.220 a vacancy in the office of sheriff, coroner, surveyor, county clerk, county attorney, jailer, constable, or property valuation administrator, shall be filled by the "county court", which means "county judge/executive" as the authorized substitution pursuant to S.B. 18 of 1976 Acts (Ex. Sess.) Ch. 20, § 6.
Such appointments are not essentially judicial in nature. Thus the application of .SB. 18 is constitutional. See §§ 27-29, Kentucky Constitution. Such appointments are essentially of an administrative and executive character.
Who signs tax exonerations? The answer is: the county judge/executive. You are referring to KRS 133.130, providing for exoneration from taxation where the property involved is not owned by the person charged with it. See Commonweath v. Heaven Hill Distilleries, Ky., 279 S.W.2d 11 (1955). It is our opinion that this function is not essentially judicial in nature. It is administrative in character. It is a method of correcting an erroneous assessment based upon an administrative mistake as to ownership of the taxable property. Fannin v. Davis, Ky., 385 S.W.2d 321 (1964) 328. See KRS 133.130, as amended in 1976 (Ex. Sess.) Ch. 14, § 147, effective January 2, 1978. The amended statute uses the term "county court." If the legislature had intended to mean "district court", it could have so easily said so. See Acts of 1976 (Ex. Sess.) Ch. 20, § 6, providing that "county judge/executive" should be substituted for "county judge" or "county court", provided the function is essentially nonjudicial in nature. Our conclusion is the same for KRS 133.110 [correction of clerical errors in assessment].
Who appoints the county police force? The answer is: the county judge/executive. Acts of 1976 (Ex. Sess.) Ch. 20, § 6. A secretary of the county police force is appointed by the county judge/executive. See KRS 70.540 .