Request By:
Hon. Danny E. Darnall
Meade County Attorney
Courthouse
Brandenburg, Kentucky 40208
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; Walter C. Herdman, Asst. Deputy Attorney General
This is in response to your letter of April 27 in which you relate that the boundaries of the magisterial districts in Meade County were changed by Fiscal Court as required by law in January 1983. As a result of the change a new district was formed. Under the circumstances, the following question is raised:
"If a resident wishes to file a Petition for a local option election in the new district, must the residents of territory outside the new district be included in the election if that territory comprised a part of the original district before the change and had participated in the prior local option election? "
Our response to your question would be in the negative. KRS 67.045, the Redistricting Act effective July 15, 1982, requires that each county reapportion its magisterial districts which becomes effective immediately after the passage of appropriate ordinance on the part of Fiscal Court. Though redistricting does not affect those magistrates who are elected and presently serving irrespective of the fact they may be placed in a district other than the one to which they were elected, the new district lines become effective immediately.
For example, in the Meade County situation, the vacancy would be created which would have to be filled at the coming November election for the unexpired term as required by Section 152 of the Constitution. This vacancy would be filled only by the registered voters who are legal residents of the new district, and of course any candidate seeking nomination and election would have to reside within the new district boundary line. Thus, in view of this fact, any local option election called within the new district would be restricted to the voters residing therein. As a consequence, those voters living in portions of territory that had been a part of the old district could not participate in the election. For your information, we are enclosing a copy of OAG 83-40 dealing with this subject.