Request By:
Mr. James S. Secrest
Allen County Attorney
Box 35
210 W. Main Street
Scottsville, Kentucky 42164
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By: Charles W. Runyan, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
Allen County has a county road supervisor appointed by the county judge executive with consent of the fiscal court pursuant to KRS 179.020(2).
The fiscal court now desires to employ an assistant county road supervisor for the purpose of assisting the county road supervisor in the discharge of his duties of properly maintaining the county road system.
Question No. 1:
Does the fiscal court have the legal authority to create the position of assistant county road supervisor?
KRS 179.020 provides in effect that a fiscal court must appoint a county road engineer or a county road supervisor. The functions of such officer are treated in detail in KRS Chapter 179. It is our opinion that the fiscal court has no authority to establish an assistant to the county road supervisor, since the road and bridge function is to be carried out by the county road engineer or county road supervisor, whomever is appointed under KRS 179.020.
Asher v. Boatright, 294 Ky. 120, 171 S.W.2d 27 (1943). The case of Asher makes it clear that no officer may be appointed to perform duties imposed by law on some other officer. The fiscal court may designate some county road employee to assist the county road supervisor, but may not be considered an assistant county road supervisor in the technical sense. Thus the assisting employee can in no way take over or assume the role of the county road supervisor in the latter's absence. Thus KRS 179.020 preempts the field in regard to that road officer function.
Since the answer to question no 1 is in the negative, your questions no. 2 and 3 are moot.