OAG 78-739 | KOGC

Request By:

Mr. James Jones, Clerk
Livingston County Court Clerk's Office
Smithland, Kentucky 42081

Opinion

Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: Dale D. Brodkey, Assistant Attorney General

This is in response to your letter of October 17, 1978, in which you asked the Attorney General's Office for an opinion on the following question:

"Is it legal for the county clerk of one county to sell fish and game licenses through a bait and tackle store which is located in the county of another county clerk? "

Fish and game licenses are to be sold by the county clerk or a deputy of the county clerk. (KRS 150.190(2)). The county clerk and deputies have the authority to act officially only in the county of their election and appointment. The Attorney General's Office earlier has stated, ". . . the clear sense of the Kentucky Constitution is that county officers are officials only in the districts of their appointment. " OAG 74-268.

The answer to your question is found in OAG 75-343. "The licenses to be sold by a county clerk [see KRS 150.190 and 150.200] must be sold by the clerk or his lawful deputies in his county, i.e., the county in which he was elected."

Thus the county clerk of one county cannot sell fish and game licenses through a bait and tackle store located in another county.

Enclosed please find copies of OAG 74-268 and 75-343.

LLM Summary

In OAG 78-739, the Attorney General responded to an inquiry about whether a county clerk can sell fish and game licenses through a store located in another county. The opinion referenced previous Attorney General opinions, OAG 74-268 and OAG 75-343, to affirm that county clerks are restricted to acting within their own counties and must sell licenses directly or through their deputies within the county where they were elected. Thus, a county clerk cannot sell licenses through a store in another county.

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