Request By:
Mr. John W. Garner
Pulaski County Judge Executive
P.O. Box 712
Somerset, Kentucky 42501
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By: Charles W. Runyan, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
You request an opinion on the question as to whether or not a magistrate has a right to swear in a city councilman and city mayor.
KRS 62.010 provides that no officer shall enter upon the duties of his office until he takes the oath required by law. The constitutional oath, described in § 228 of the Kentucky Constitution, is required of all public officers.
KRS 62.020 provides as follows:
The official oath of any officer may be administered by any judge, county judge/ executive, notary public, clerk of a court, or justice of the peace, within his district or county.
Under the express wording of KRS 62.020, the officers named therein are authorized to administer the official oath or any officer "within his district or county." (Emphasis added). This simply refers to the entire geographical territory for which they were elected or appointed. The following chart depicts those territories: OfficerTerritory Supreme Court JusticeSupreme Court DistrictKRS 21A.010Court of Appeals JudgeCourt of Appeals DistrictKRS 21A.010 and 22A.010Circuit Court JudgeJudicial CircuitKRS 23A.020District Court JudgeJudicial DistrictKRS 24A.030County Judge ExecutiveCounty. §§ 99 and 124,Ky. Const.Notary PublicCounty or State at LargeKRS 423.010 and 423.020(1)Clerk of Supreme CourtState. §§ 114, Ky. Const.,and KRS 21A.030Clerk of Court of AppealsState. § 114, Ky. Const.,and KRS 22A.040Circuit & District ClerkCounty. § 97, Ky. Const.,and KRS 30A.010Justice of the PeaceJustice District. § 99, Ky.Const.
It is our opinion that under the language of § 99 of the Kentucky Constitution, a justice of the peace may administer the official oath of any officer within his magisterial district. OAG 78-57 is modified accordingly, since the statute contains the express term "justice of the peace", and it has nothing to do with "judges".