Request By:
Mr. William F. Ivers, Jr.
Henry County Attorney
P.O. Box 108
New Castle, Kentucky 40050
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By: Charles W. Runyan, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
As Henry County Attorney, you have a problem relating to ambulance and emergency services. One of the cities in your county has requested the fiscal court to enter into a contract with it under KRS Chapter 79 for the joint operation of emergency medical services. At present, the EMS services are performed by nonprofit corporations, receiving funding from both the county and cities and raising money through various fund raising activities. The county purchases the major equipment, such as ambulances; however, each individual squad also provides its own equipment.
Your question is whether the county needs to contract with the cities under KRS 79 in the furnishing of emergency medical services or contract with the various squads (nonprofit corporations) under KRS Chapter 65.
Ambulance service may be carried on in several ways. First, ambulance service may be furnished by the county unilaterally as a direct county operation, pursuant to KRS 67.083(3)(d).
Ambulance service may be conducted by private persons, partnerships, or corporations under a franchise issued by the fiscal court under § 164, Kentucky Constitution (after advertisement for bids) and KRS 65.710. Such franchise shall not exceed a term of twenty (20) years. The one (1) year maximum period contract of KRS 65.710(5) is inoperative in light of § 164, Kentucky Constitution. However, see KRS 65.710, otherwise, for special contract requirements. See also Ray v. City of Owensboro, Ky., 415 S.W.2d 77 (1967).
The creation of emergency ambulance service districts, pursuant to KRS 108.080 to 108.180, constitutes another method for providing and funding ambulance service in the county. Such districts can be primarily funded with a special ad valorem tax imposed for the district. See KRS 108.100 and 108.105. Under KRS 108.140(9), the Board of Directors of an Ambulance Service District has the authority to contract with private persons, partnerships, or corporations for providing ambulance service to the residents of the district.
Since a city and county, unilaterally, may directly operate an ambulance service, they could utilize the provisions of KRS 79.110 to 79.180, or they could use the interlocal agreement statutes, KRS 65.210 to 65.300, to agree to directly operate, jointly, an ambulance service. See those statutes for necessary details. Also see Herd v. City of Middlesboro, 266 Ky. 488, 99 S.W.2d 458 (1936).
See also the Emergency Medical Services Program maintained by the Cabinet for Human Resources pursuant to KRS 211.950 to 211.958. See KRS 211.954, relating to a matching fund program for local purchase of ambulances and equipment, and KRS 211.956, relating to a matching fund program for providing trained emergency medical service personnel.
We hope this analysis will assist you and the fiscal court in pinpointing the precise statutory method most suitable for providing ambulance service to people in your county.