Request By:
Mr. Horace D. West
Owen County Judge Executive
P.O. Box 503
Owenton, Kentucky 40359
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By: Charles W. Runyan, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
The question you presented for our opinion reads:
"Can the county judge executive perform work at the county barn, or on county roads during working hours, such as driving graders, trucks, front end loaders, or whatever equipment that the county may own?"
The central range of powers and duties of the county judge are set forth in KRS 67.710.
It may be noted that KRS 67.710 provides in general that the county judge executive shall be responsible for the proper administration of the affairs of the county placed in his charge. Under subsection (3) of that statute his responsibilities include the following:
"Furnish the fiscal court with information concerning the operations of county departments, boards, or commissions, necessary for the fiscal court to exercise its powers or as requested by the fiscal court."
The Court of Appeals observed, in
Board of Education of London Ind. Sch. Dist. v. Miller, Ky., 299 S.W.2d 626 (1957), that the General Assembly may provide that a public officer devote his entire time to his duties, whether or not the entire time of the officer is in fact required for the complete and faithful performance of his duties. However, we find no such statutory requirement for the county judge executive.
We find no statute prohibiting the county judge executive from engaging in this extra work. It is our opinion that the county judge executive may engage in such extra work (beyond the call of duty), provided that it is not in conflict with some positive duty under KRS 67.710 or other statute that requires his attention at the time in question.