Request By:
Mr. Carl B. Larsen
Supervisor of Racing
Kentucky Harness Racing Commission
1051 H Newtown Road
Lexington, Kentucky 40511-1278
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; Sarah M. Jackson, Assistant Attorney General
In your letter of September 15, 1983, you have requested an Opinion as to whether funds from the Equine Drug Research Council may be allocated to the University of Kentucky Drug Testing Laboratory. You have asked if such allocations are possible under KRS 230.240 and KRS 230.660. It is our opinion that funds may be so allocated.
KRS 230.265 established the Kentucky Equine Drug Research Council [hereinafter "Council"]. The Council was established to oversee equine drug research and testing research being conducted at the University of Kentucky or other testing research being conducted elsewhere with state funds. KRS 230.265(2). Inherent in such an established supervisory role is the power to direct, or allocate, funds necessary to the continuity of the research program which the Council is charged with overseeing.
Since both the Kentucky State Racing Commission and the Kentucky Harness Racing Commission receive one-tenth of one percent (.1%) of the total amount wagered in Kentucky deducted from the pari-mutuel tax levied in KRS 138.510 to be used for financing drug research and testing, it is clear that funds so received are to be used by the Kentucky Equine Drug Research Council to further drug research and testing. The Kentucky Equine Drug Research Council is charged with reviewing the equine drug research and testing research being conducted at the University of Kentucky as well as that drug research and testing research being conducted elsewhere with state funds. KRS 230.265(2).
KRS 230.240(2) and KRS 230.660(1) provide that the Kentucky State Racing Commission and the Kentucky Harness Racing Commission are authorized to acquire, operate, and maintain a testing laboratory and related facilities for laboratory and testing processes. KRS 230.240(2); KRS 230.660(1). KRS 230.240(2) and KRS 230.660(1) state that the expense of the laboratory or other testing processes, together with all supplies and equipment used in connection therewith, shall be paid by the various licensed associations in such a manner as the commission may be rule provide. KRS 230.240(2); KRS 230.660(1).
KRS 230.240(2) and KRS 230.260(1), however, address the establishment of a "testing laboratory and related facilities" to conduct solely ". . . saliva, urinal or other tests" for the purpose of ". . . effectively preventing the use of improper devices, the administration of drugs or stimulants or other improper acts for the purpose of affecting the speed or health of horses in races in which they are to participate. . . ." KRS 230.240(2); 230.660(1). This language is strikingly different from the language found in KRS 230.265. KRS 230.265 establishes a Council to conduct equine drug research to review drug research and testing research. Inherent in such a project is the ongoing, or continuous, nature of the research being conducted. The drug testing or laboratory testing provided for in KRS 230.240(2) and KRS 230.660(1) is, on the other hand, both immediate and short-term. The testing contemplated by those statutes is testing in relation to specific races run or races to be run in furtherance of the police powers of both Commissions.
Therefore, the provisions of KRS 230.240(2) and KRS 230.660(1) do not apply to that testing research or drug research being conducted at the University of Kentucky Drug Testing Laboratory. Rather, the provisions of KRS 230.265, including the funding provision found in KRS 230.265(3), are applicable to such research presently overseen by the Kentucky Equine Drug Research Council. Funds from the Kentucky Equine Drug Research Council may be allocated to any end necessary to further drug research and testing research presently being conducted. Because the Council is charged with overseeing drug research and testing research, the Council must necessarily allocate funds derived from both the Kentucky State Racing Commission and the Kentucky Harness Racing Commission for any purpose it sees fit in order to carry out the duties with which such Council is charged.