Request By:
Mr. Paul V. Guagliardo
Assistant Director of Law
City of Louisville
City Hall
Louisville, Kentucky 40202
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: Carl Miller, Assistant Attorney General
You have requested an opinion of the Attorney General on the following question:
"Would a City of Louisville Ordinance allowing non-residents of Kentucky to operate taxi cabs within the City (assuming said operators possess a valid operator's and chauffeur's license from their state of residence) be in conflict with the provisions of KRS 281.635(5)?"
We think that it would be most inappropriate for the City of Louisville to give formal permission for persons to operate taxi cabs in the City, as employees of taxi cab companies, located in the City who do not possess a Kentucky chauffeur's license as required by KRS 281.726. The statute which authorizes cities of the first five classes to license taxi cab drivers, KRS 281.635(5), expressly provides that any taxi cab driver so licensed must also possess a Kentucky operator's license.
This is not to say that Kentucky will not recognize the operator's and chauffeur's license of a non-resident taxi cab driver. In OAG 74-859 we pointed out that a non-resident is exempt under KRS 186.430 on the principle of reciprocity. It is only when a city of the first class undertakes by ordinance to require the licensing of taxi cab drivers in lieu of the licensing required by KRS 281.726(1), that a taxi cab driver is required to have a Kentucky operator's and chauffeur's license. Licensing by a first class city is dependent upon the prerequisite of being licensed by the Commonwealth. In such a case reciprocity is not sufficient to excuse a taxi cab driver from having a Kentucky operator's license. In order for the City of Louisville to allow non-residents to operate taxi cabs within the City, any ordinance should expressly exempt non-residents from the provisions of city licensing.