Request By:
Mr. Gardner D. Wagers
Clark County Judge/ Executive
P.O. Box 5
Winchester, Kentucky 40391
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: Charles W. Runyan, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
You have discussed with District Judge John Moore the possibility of using, on public county work projects, prisoners confined in the Clark County jail. The inmates would be given the voluntary opportunity to work for the county in picking up trash, cleaning rights of way, but would not be paid by the county. We assume the county has no workhouse [see KRS 441.070]. We assume that you are not referring to defendants sentenced to hard labor under KRS 431.140 and 441.120. Such prisoners [sentenced to hard labor] shall, if there is no workhouse, be put to work upon some public work or road of the county. 1
KRS 441.180 and 441.190 allowed prisoners credit on fines when the prisoner worked and when he did not work. However, those two sections were repealed in 1974 [Ch. 406, § 336].
In answer to your first question we can find no statute authorizing the working of prisoners, serving out a term of imprisonment, on county projects, even though the prisoners volunteer for the work.
Question: May the district judge require convicted adults and juveniles to work for the city and county a certain number of hours or days as a part of their penalty? In connection with juveniles, we assume you are referring to convictions of juveniles of moving motor vehicle offenses [16 years of age or older]. See KRS 208.020(1)(a).
Again we are not aware of any statute authorizing the court to impose a work-for-the-county or city provision as a part of the penalty Cf. KRS 534.060(3), wherein the court, in response to a nonpayment of fines, may, under certain conditions, compel defendant to work for a department of local government.
Your last question concerns prisoners let out to work for private individuals under the work release statute, KRS 439.179. You ask whether a portion of the dieting fee can be deducted from the prisoner's wages.
Under KRS 439.179(3), if the prisoner is employed for wages or salary, such money shall be turned over to the district court which shall deposit the same in a trust checking account, and the money shall be disbursed as provided in this section. Under subsection (4) of the statute every prisoner gainfully employed is liable for the cost of his board in jail, at the amount established by statute. The dieting fees in such cases under KRS 64.150 would be paid by the state where the defendants were charged with state statute violations, and the state would be reimbursed by the district court's making a proper disbursement of defendant's earned money, going into the trust account, to the state. See KRS 439.179(4), (5) and (10).
Footnotes
Footnotes
1 The prosecutor may recommend hard labor to the jury or court. The judgment would contain a hard labor provision [see KRS 441.120] if the jury or court desires.