Request By:
Mr. Jesse L. Amburgey
Executive Secretary
Kentucky Association for Community Action
41 Fountain Place
Frankfort, Kentucky 40601
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By: Thomas R. Emerson, Assistant Attorney General
This is in reply to your letter requesting an opinion as to the status of Community Action Agencies in Kentucky. You state that nineteen of the twenty-one Community Action Agencies are private nonprofit corporations, incorporated in compliance with the provisions of KRS 273.410 through 273.455. Two of the Community Action Agencies are public agencies incorporated in compliance with these same provisions.
It is your opinion that Community Action Agencies are special districts and you give two reasons for this opinion. The Community Action Agencies, through private nonprofit corporations operate with public funds through various grants and contracts. In addition, KRS 65.065 and 65.070, relating to special districts, specifically refer to Community Action Agencies, as a special district includes any board, commission or special district created pursuant to KRS 273.410 to 273.455.
KRS 65.060 provides in part that as used in KRS 65.065 and 65.070 the term "district" shall apply to any board, commission or special district created pursuant to specifically enumerated statutes, including KRS 273.410 to 273.455.
KRS 65.065 deals with budgets and audits of a district. KRS 65.070 requires in part that at least once every twelve months the district shall file with the county clerk of each county with territory in the district a certification showing the name of the district, a map or general description of its service area, the statutory authority under which it was created, and the names and addresses of the members of its governing body and chief executive officer. The district is required at least once every twelve months to file a copy of the district budget, financial statement if prepared, and audit when performed, with the county judge-executive of each county with territory in the district. The district is also required at least once every twelve months to publish either a summary financial statement or the location of district financial records which may be examined by the public.
KRS 273.410 to 273.455 deal with Community Action Corporations, which are corporations organized for the purpose of alleviating poverty within a community or area by developing employment opportunities; by bettering the conditions under which people live, learn and work; and by conducting, administering and coordinating similar programs. The corporation's articles of incorporation are to be approved by the Secretary of the Department for Human Resources. A Community Action Corporation may be designated by one or more counties, one or more cities, or one or more counties and one or more cities as the agency of the political subdivision for the alleviation of poverty. KRS 273.435. See also KRS 273.440 dealing with designation by the Commonwealth. Such designation may occur when the legislative authority of each such political subdivision has determined that its policy is to promote the health, safety, morals and general welfare of its inhabitants and that such policy may be implemented through the designation of a Community Action Corporation as such an agency. Thus, the Community Action Corporation becomes an agent of the political subdivision for certain specified purposes.
KRS 65.005(1)(a) defines a special district as follows:
"'Special district' means any agency, authority, or political subdivision of the state which exercises less than statewide jurisdiction and which is organized for the purpose of performing governmental or other prescribed functions within limited boundaries. It includes all political subdivisions of the state except a city, a county or a school district."
A Community Action Corporation is not a special district for purposes of KRS 65.160 to 65.162 which permits two or more counties to join together to form a special district to fulfill any purpose which any individual county is authorized to fulfill. A Community Action Corporation is also not a district for purposes of KRS 65.164 to 65.176 as it is not among the boards, commissions or special districts created pursuant to the statutory provisions set forth in KRS 65.164.
In conclusion, a Community Action Corporation organized and functioning pursuant to the terms and provisions of KRS 273.410 to 273.455 is a "district" for purposes of KRS 65.060 to 65.070. A Community Action Corporation organized and functioning pursuant to the terms and provisions of KRS 273.410 to 273.455 can be a "special district" as defined in KRS 65.005 since the definition includes an "agency," if that Community Action Corporation has been designated as an agency of a city or county government (KRS 273.435) or an agent of the Commonwealth (KRS 273.440).