Request By:
Honorable Benjamin J. Lookofsky
Graves County Attorney
Graves County Court House
Mayfield, Kentucky 42066
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By: Walter C. Herdman, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
This is in answer to your letter of February 5 in which you refer to the fact that pursuant to KRS 67.050 (3) a method is provided whereby the people can vote to revert back to a magisterial form of government from that of county commission. Under the circumstances, you seek advice as to whether or not such an election must be held at the next scheduled general election this coming November, 1980.
KRS 67.050 (3) provides that any county desiring to return to its prior form of government following its adoption of county commission form, may do so pursuant to the procedure authorized to establish a county commission form of government under subsections (1) and (2). Under these sections the election must be held at the next regular election following the filing of a proper petition requesting such a change in government where the election occurs not less than sixty (60) days before the filing of said petition. Of course, no such election can be held in any county oftener than once in four (4) years, and a regular election means a November election.
Under the circumstances, if there has been more than four (4) years since the adoption of the county commission form of government, and the petition to vote to return to the magisterial form of government is filed more than sixty (60) days before the November election 1980, said election can be held at that time. We might add that even in absence of any reference in the statutes to holding said election at a regular election such election could only be held at a November election under the terms of Sections 147 and 148 of the Constitution. See