Request By:
Mr. James S. Secrest
Allen County Attorney
Box 35
Scottsville, Kentucky 42164
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By: Charles W. Runyan, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
The Allen County War Memorial Hospital is a county hospital owned and operated by the Allen County Fiscal Court. See KRS 216.010 [repealed by Acts 1978, Ch. 118, Sec. 19. See also KRS 67.083(3)(d) authorizing fiscal court to operate a hospital].
Question No. 1:
"Is the Hospital a 'local public agency' within the meaning of KRS 45A.345(8) and therefore subject to the provisions of the Model Procurement Code, KRS 45A.345-406?"
There are certain statutes, [KRS 45A.345 to 45A.460] of the Model Procurement Code, applicable to every local public agency in Kentucky.
KRS 45A.345(8) defines "local public agency" to mean:
"As used in KRS 45A.345 to 45A.460, unless the context indicates otherwise:
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"(8) 'Local public agency' shall mean a city, county, urban-county, school district, special district, or an agency formed by a combination of such agencies under KRS Chapter 79, or any department, board, commission, authority, office or other sub-unit of a political subdivision which shall include the offices of the county clerk, county sheriff, county attorney, coroner and jailer."
It is our opinion that under the literal language of KRS 45A.345(8), the Allen County Hospital Commission is a local public agency, since it is a commission and sub-unit of a political subdivision, i.e., of a county. This is a "county hospital" and is under the overall supervision of fiscal court pursuant to KRS 67.083(3)(d). Therefore the hospital commission is that of the county. See Knox County Fiscal Court v. Knox County General Hospital, Ky., 528 S.W.2d 672 (1975), holding that where a county is operating a county hospital as such, the fiscal court of that county can never delegate that public function to others. The court said that "if it is to be a county hospital it must remain under control of the governing body directly responsible to the county electorate, which is the fiscal court." (Emphasis added).
Although KRS Sections 216.010 to 216.070, relating to the establishing of county hospitals, were repealed by Acts 1978, Ch. 118, Section 19, the same act amended the county home rule statute KRS 67.083 and thus expressly defined and enlarged powers of fiscal court. KRS 67.083(3)(d) provides that the fiscal court may enact ordinances in connection with hospitals. This is sufficient to authorize the operation of a county hospital. Thus KRS 67.083(3)(d) has merely superseded KRS 216.010, et seq.
Question No. 2:
"If the hospital is subject to the provisions of the Code, would the Hospital Commission or the Fiscal Court be responsible for the adoption of regulations pursuant to KRS 45A.360 and small purchase procedures pursuant to KRS 45A.385, or, could the Hospital Commission promulgate such regulations and procedures subject to the approval of the Fiscal Court?"
The County Hospital Commission may adopt regulations [KRS 45A.360] and shall establish small purchase procedures [KRS 45A.385], but, since the fiscal court cannot delegate its overall fiscal control of the county hospital, such regulations and procedures would be subject to fiscal court approval. KRS 67.080(1)(c).
Question No. 3:
"Finally, would regulations and small purchase procedures, adopted by the Fiscal Court applicable to Allen County also be applicable to the Hospital?"
Since the Hospital Commission is not an autonomous unit of government and is subject to the direct and overall fiscal and financial supervision of the fiscal court, it is our opinion that proper regulations and small purchase procedures adopted by fiscal court for the general county operations could be made applicable to the county hospital. In that way duplication of effort could be avoided and the county would be on a unified system. The law does not force anyone to do a vain and useless thing. Kentucky Title Co. v. Hail, 219 Ky. 256, 292 S.W. 817 (1927) 821.