Request By:
Mr. Bremer Ehrler
Jefferson County Clerk
Courthouse
Louisville, Kentucky 40202
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General, By: Charles W. Runyan, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
The question of registering of physicians' licenses in your office is now facing you. Your letter reads:
"We have been questioned by Richard V. Beliles, Attorney, concerning the requirement for registering of a Physician in the County Clerk's Office. Mr. Beliles received information from the Medical Association which stated that Physicians are required to register with the County Clerk. The only specific requirements I find in the Kentucky Revised Statutes are as follows: DentistKRS 313.110Dental HygienistsKRS 313.307ChiropractorsKRS 312.135Practice of PodiatryKRS 311.450EmbalmersKRS 316.080Funeral DirectorsKRS 316.110OptometristsKRS 320.290VeterinarianKRS 321.290
We have two questions concerning the above:
1. Are physicians who practice medicine and osteopathy, required to register with the county clerk in the county of his/her residence?
2. Are those practitioners listed above required to register their license with the county clerk when issued, and when the license is renewed annually?
Answers to the above questions will be greatly appreciated."
Prior to the regular session of 1972 of the General Assembly, KRS 311.585 required holders of a license to practice medicine or osteopathy to register their license certificate with the county clerk of their residence. Such registration with the county clerk was required in each Kentucky county in which the holders practiced their profession. However, KRS 311.585 was repealed in the 1972 session (Ch. 218, § 11(c), effective September 1, 1972).
It is our opinion, in reply to question no. 1, that there is no statute requiring the registration of the licenses of doctors of medicine or osteopathy with the county clerk. Even if the medical association requires such registration with the county clerk, it would not be valid, since only the General Assembly can say by statute what documents are to be registered, filed, or recorded in the county clerk's office.
Conner v. Nunn, Ky., 455 S.W.2d 554 (1970).
Your second question relates to whether any registration of professional licenses with your office is required of the professionals listed in your above cited letter.
We shall answer that graphically as follows:
Dentists -- KRS 313.110 requires registering license with county clerk in county of practice.
Dental Hygienists -- KRS 313.307 requires registering license with county clerk in county of practice.
Chiropractors -- KRS 312.135 requires license to be filed with county clerk of residence.
Podiatrist -- KRS 311.440 requires filing of license with county clerk in county of practice.
Embalmers -- KRS 316.080 requires registering of license with county clerk of residence.
Funeral Directors -- KRS 316.110 requires registering license with county clerk of residence.
Optometrists -- KRS 320.290 requires registering license with county clerk of residence.
Veterinarians -- KRS 321.290 requires registering license with county clerk of residence.
We have indicated above the statutes requiring the registering of the original licenses issued to the above professionals mentioned under question no. 2. Now, you raise the residual question as to whether or not any renewed licenses of the foregoing professionals must be registered in your office.
We shall indicate graphically as follows the profession, the statute requiring renewal, and whether or not (yes or no) such renewed licenses must be registered in your office: DentistKRS 313.080(2)YesDental HygientistsKRS 313.300(2)YesChiropractorsKRS 312.175YesPractice of PodiatryKRS 311.450YesEmbalmersKRS 316.130YesFuneral DirectorsKRS 316.130YesOptometristsKRS 320.280YesVeterinarianKRS 321.330Yes
The holding of a renewed license for one of the above professions is just as important, in a legal and pragmatic sense, as holding the original license. The difference is that a renewal certificate is the only evidence of the right of the professional to continue to practice. The original license marks the beginning of his practice, while a renewal certificate marks the continuation of his right to practice.
Commonwealth v. Pollitt, 258 Ky. 489, 80 S.W.2d 543 (1935).
Thus the public policy behind the registration of the original license with the clerk in producing for the public notice evidence of the right to practice equally applies to the renewals of such licenses. In addition, a statute need not expressly state what is necessarily implied, as is the case here relating to renewals of licenses.