Request By:
Mr. Mark E. Gormley
Woodford County Attorney
Courthouse
Versailles, Kentucky 40383
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By: Charies W. Runyan, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
Ray Pacey is a regular, full time member of the Woodford County Ambulance Service, which is operated directly by the county.
A shooting occurred in the parking lot of one of the local factories in April, 1981. This was an emergency run as denominated by the ambulance service. In such instances, when the ambulance and crew leave the station and there is no backup crew at the station (which there was not at this particular time because of another run), a call is sent to off-duty personnel to come as quickly as possible to the station to be on standby in the event of another call.
On this particular day in April, Ray Pacey was called in for duty at his work station. He got into his private motor vehicle (a pickup truck which does not have emergency lights and siren) and then drove as fast and as safely as possible to the ambulance station to be on standby. While so driving, and because of the urgency of the situation, and driving faster than he ordinarily might drive, the motor in his truck "blew up". The damage to the motor is approximately $500.
The Woodford Fiscal Court would like to know whether, under the above described facts, it would be legal to repair Ray Pacey's truck with public funds. The answer is "no".
Mr. Pacey was in an off-duty status when he received the call. Under the circumstances, it appears that he technically did not come into the duty status until he actually reached his regular ambulance station. The motor "blew up" prior to his reaching his ambulance station. Under these circumstances, we believe that the damage to his vehicle occurred while he was still in an off-duty status. Thus, under this analysis, we can see no basis for the county's paying for the repairing of the vehicle out of its public funds.
The county ambulance service is operated directly by the county with hired employees. See KRS 65.710, et seq.
Under the facts given, Mr. Pacey was not on county duty until he reached his work station. The engine "blew up" prior to his reaching his work station. Therefore, we are unable to find any valid basis for the county's paying for the engine repair. In Leslie County v. Keith, 227 Ky. 663, 13 S.W.2d 1012 (1929), the court wrote that "county governments never become indebted by implication, and the county cannot be held responsible for a claim without its first being shown that there was a legal obligation to pay it."
Under the facts, we are unable to make out a legal obligation of the county to pay for the engine damage.