Request By:
Mr. David A. Schneider
Attorney at Law
Covington Trust Building
Covington, Kentucky 41011
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By: Charles W. Runyan, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
Your letter presents a question as to the newspaper in Kenton County meeting the legal qualifications for publishing various required legal notices, pursuant to KRS 424.120.
Your firm represents the Boone County Recorder, Inc., owner and publisher of the Boone County Recorder, the official newspaper for legal advertisements in Boone County. The Boone County Recorder, Inc., owns and publishes "The Advertiser", which has served the southern portion of Kenton County and portions of Boone County. Recently the Boone County Recorder, Inc., purchased "The Leader", a newspaper of paid general circulation in the Kenton and Boone County areas. Beginning in May, 1980, the two newspapers (Advertiser and Leader) were combined and published under the new name of "The Kenton County Recorder." The latter paper has an office and will be published in Independence, Kenton County, Kentucky, and will also have a news gathering, advertisement solicitation, and general business office in Edgewood to serve the northern half of Kenton County. The Kenton County Recorder will continue to be a weekly paid subscription newspaper serving Kenton County with regular coverage of the county. It holds a second-class mailing permit issued for its Independence office. You say that the Kenton County Recorder is a newspaper of general circulation in the publication area of Kenton County.
You write that since the only other newspapers of paid general circulation in Kenton County are printed outside of Kentucky, you are of the opinion that the Kenton County Recorder is the only newspaper in Kenton County meeting the legal qualifications under KRS 424.120. The Post-Times Star has a main office in Covington and would appear to be the legal newspaper for that city under KRS 424.120, even though printed outside of Kentucky. See KRS 424.120(1)(a).
You seek our opinion as to whether or not "The Kenton County Recorder" qualifies as the legal publisher of ads, requiring publication under KRS Chapter 424, in Kenton County, excluding the city of Covington.
Under KRS 424.120, a newspaper qualified for publishing legal notices under KRS Chapter 424 must meet the following requirements: (a) It must be published in the publication area. It is sufficient if the newspaper maintains a known office in the publication area for the purpose of gathering news and soliciting advertisements and other general business of newspaper publications, and has a second-class mailing permit issued for that office. A newspaper printed outside of Kentucky shall not be eligible to publish ads for any county or publication area within the county, other than for the city in which its main office is located, if there is a newspaper printed in the county that has a substantial general circulation throughout the county and that otherwise meets the requirements of this section; and (b) It must be of regular issue and have the largest bona fide circulation in the publication area. A newspaper shall be deemed to be of regular issue if it is published regularly, as frequently as once a week, for at least 50 weeks during the calendar year as prescribed by its mailing permit, and has been so published in the area for the immediately preceding one-year period. A newspaper shall be deemed to be of bona fide circulation in the publication area if it is circulated generally in the area, and maintains a definite price or consideration not less than 50% of its published price, and is paid for by not less than 50% of those to whom distribution is made; and (c) It must bear a title or name, consist of not less than four pages without a cover, and be of a type to which the general public resorts for passing events of a political, relagious, commercial nature, etc. The news content must be at least 25% of the total column space in more than one-half of its issues during any twelve-month period.
It can be readily observed at this point that, because of the multiplicity of statutory qualifications and the pertinent facts and evidence relating to the facts underlying the situation, the Office of the Attorney General simply is not organized under our statutes to assess properly this kind of issue. It is a matter for the fiscal court to determine [in connection with county notices] under proper hearing procedures, or for the courts if the issue remains unsettled. The fiscal court in making its determination must follow strictly the terms of KRS 424.120. See Williams v. Commonwealth, Ky., 392 S.W.2d 454 (1965).