Request By:
Mr. Gene R. Osselmeier
Master Commissioner
Bullitt Circuit Court
P.O. Box 577
Shepherdsville, Kentucky 40165
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; Elizabeth E. Blackford, Assistant Attorney General
As I read your request of September 6, you are asking whether the Master Commissioner's salary is limited to $7,200 annually, or whether, for performing judicialtype functions in actions where the Master Commissioner does not execute a judicial sale his annual salary is limited only by the $24,000 per annum established by CR 53.08.
KRS 31A.010(4) provides:
(4) The master commissioner shall be compensated by fees as provided by rule of the Supreme Court. In counties other than those containing cities of the first and second class and urban-county governments his compensation shall not exceed the sum of seven thousand two hundred dollars ($7,200) per year exclusive of actual expenses. The circuit court may allow the commissioner a reasonable fee for performing judicial-type functions in actions where the master commissioner does not execute a judicial sale, and such fee shall be allowed even if the allowance of such fee shall cause the annual salary of the master commissioner to exceed seven thousand two hundred dollars ($7,200) per year."
Though the statute says the Master Commissioner's salary shall not exceed $7,200 annually, that limitation is directly qualified in the next sentence which allows the circuit court to provide reasonable fees for judicial-type functions, other than execution of a judicial sale, even though such fees cause the Master Commissioner's annual compensation to exceed $7,200. The nature of the language of the compensation limitation and the fact that master commissioners traditionally performed judicial-type functions only in actions which involved execution of a judicial sale lead us to believe the $7,200 limitation applies only to compensation derived from fees arising from actions in which the Master Commissioner executes a judicial sale. Therefore, it is the opinion of this office that a Master Commissioner's compensation for performing judicial-type functions in actions other than one in which he executes a judicial sale may exceed $7,200 annually.
The only limitation upon the Master Commissioner's compensation, if the circuit court provides for reasonable fees for judicial-type functions in actions which do not involve execution of a judicial sale, is that of CR 53.08 which provides:
"All commissioners shall be limited in their personal compensation from fees to not more than $24,000 per annum.
Therefore, if the circuit court has established fees, the Master Commissioner's annual compensation, for judicial-type functions other than in actions involving execution of a judicial sale, may exceed $7,200 annually but shall not exceed $24,000 annually.
You also asked whether "the expenses, enumerated in KRS 64.270, are expenses allowed over and above the amount of $25,000 contained in Rule CR 53.07." KRS 64.270 has been repealed. The expenses listed therein are no longer applicable. Neither is there any provision relating to $25,000 contained in CR 53.07.
Thus, we are not precisely sure of what you are asking. We will assume that you are asking what expenses are permitted and whether for purposes of the $24,000 limitation of CR 53.08 expenses are computed as a portion of the Master Commissioner's annual compensation.
The Master Commissioner may have such deputies and assistants, approved by order of the chief circuit judge, as are necessary. KRS 31A.010(7). Deputies and other assistants shall be compensated and office expenses shall be paid from fees of the Commissioner's office. CR 53.07. The $7,200 compensation limitation of KRS 314.010(4) specifically states that that amount is exclusive of actual expenses. Similarly, the $24,000 limitation of CR 53.08 is on the Master Commissioner's personal compensation only, exclusive of salaries and expenses. Only those fees received by the office in excess of the amount necessary to pay office expenses and the salaries of deputies and assistants and the personal compensation of the Commissioner shall be remitted. CR 53.08. Therefore, the Commissioner's personal compensation is to be considered separately from the salaries of his employees and office expenses for the purposes of the $24,000 limitation. Where the fees are derived from performing judicial type functions in actions other than those involving execution of judicial sales, the total fees which are retained in order to pay salaries and expenses and the Commissioner's personal compensation may exceed $24,000 annually so long as the Commissioner's personal compensation alone does not exceed $24,000.