Request By:
Mr. Charles W. McDowell
Executive Director
Bureau for the Blind
State Office Building Annex
Frankfort, Kentucky 40601
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; Greg Holmes, Assistant Attorney General
You have requested the opinion of this office as to whether the Bureau for the Blind may provide partial rehabilitation services to handicapped individuals sponsored by other agencies, even though such individuals may not be blind or visually impaired. Specifically, you state that the Kentucky Bureau of Rehabilitation Services has proposed the purchase of short-term evaluation and adjustment services from the Bureau for the Blind for disabled individuals eligible under the BRS Program. These services would be provided by staff of the Bureau for the Blind at the Kentucky Rehabilitation Center for the Blind and Kentucky Industries for the Blind Facilities in Louisville.
The Kentucky Model Procurement Code, KRS 45A appears to be dispositive of your question. KRS 45A.300 provides in pertinent part:
(2) Nothing in this code shall limit any public purchasing unit from selling to, acquiring from, or using any property belonging to another public purchasing unit or foreign purchasing activity independent of the requirements of KRS 45A.070 to 45A.165 and KRS. 45.360(7).
(3) Nothing in this code shall limit or restrict any public purchasing unit from entering into an agreement, independent of the requirements of KRS 45A.070 to 45A.165 and KRS 45.360(7), with any other public purchasing unit or foreign purchasing activity for the cooperative use of supplies or services.
It is apparent from the above quoted sections of Chapter 45A of the Kentucky Revised Statutes that the intent of the General Assembly was to provide for the maximum cooperation between state agencies in order to facilitate the achievement of the purposes for which these agencies were created. Based on the provisions of the Kentucky Model Procurement Code it is the opinion of this office that the Bureau for the Blind may proceed with its plans for the Kentucky Bureau of Rehabilitation Services to purchase short-term evaluation and adjustment services from the Bureau for the Blind for disabled individuals eligible under the BRS program, even though such individuals may not be blind or visually impaired.
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