Request By:
Mr. Dan D. Ball
Lawrence County Attorney
Courthouse
122 Main Cross Street
Louisa, Kentucky 41230
Opinion
Opinion By: David L. Armstrong, Attorney General; By: Charles W. Runyan, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
The Lawrence County Jail has been closed, and the Fiscal Court has designated the sheriff as Transportation Officer.
A holdover (lockup) jail will soon be completed. The jailer contends that he has a right to operate the holdover jail with all the rights and benefits that he had as jailer before the old jail was closed.
The Lawrence County Fiscal Court requests the opinion of this office on the following questions:
"1. Who will be in charge of the holdover jail while the sheriff is designated transportation officer?
"2. What is the greatest salary that the fiscal court must pay the jailer in 1985 while the sheriff is transportation officer?
"3. Can the fiscal court order the jailer to vacate the old jailer's quarters, owned by the county?"
Since Lawrence County has no jail, but only a holdover jail, the sheriff of your county by statute has to serve as transportation officer, if the fiscal court so requires it, pursuant to KRS 441.510(3)(b). Subsection (3)(b) provides that " In any county where there is no jail or the county operates a holdover jail, the fiscal court shall adopt a transportation plan which establishes the party responsible for transporting prisoners as necessary: (b) The fiscal court may require the sheriff to serve as transportation officer to be responsible for transporting prisoners as necessary; . . ." (Emphasis added). The fiscal court had, among its options, the option of requiring the jailer to serve as transportation officer. However, the Lawrence Fiscal Court decided to exercise its option found in KRS 441.510(3)(b).
Your immediate question is who will be in charge of the holdover jail while the sheriff is designated transportation officer?
A jail and a holdover are defined by KRS 441.005(1) and (2):
"As used in this chapter unless the context otherwise requires:
"(1) 'Jail' means county jails and correctional or detention facilities, including correctional facilities defined in KRS 67B.020 and juvenile detention facilities, operated by and under the supervision of any political subdivision.
"(2) 'Holdover' means any jail housing prisoners for a maximum period of ninety-six (96) continuous hours and excluding such times when a prisoner is released for a minimum of seven (7) hours for the purpose of working at his employment, attending an educational institution or conducting other business pursuant to a court order, or when a prisoner is released for in court proceedings."
A "jail" is the regular county jail, as envisioned in KRS Chapter 441 and Chapter 71. Pursuant to KRS 71.020, "Each jailer has the custody, rule and charge of the jail in his county and of all persons in the jail . . ." Obviously, KRS 71.020 relates to a regular county jail, as treated in KRS Chapter 71 and Chapter 441. Under KRS 71.040, the county jailer receives all persons lawfully commited to the jail. Under KRS 71.065, if in any county there is no jail, KRS 71.060, relating to jail personnel, is not applicable.
A "holdover jail" , by the above statutory definition, is not a regular county jail, as just described. It is merely a detention facility to hold prisoners for a limited period of time. Under KRS 441.025(2)(a), the fiscal court must provide a regular jail for the incarceration of prisoners, or else contract with another county (or city) for such incarceration. However, under subsection (3) of that statute, it is provided that "Nothing in this section shall prohibit a county from providing facilities for holding prisoners for limited periods of time and contracting with another county (or city) for longer periods of incarceration. Thus the holdover facility is permissive and is not mandatory.
Since your county has no regular jail, and the jailer does not transport prisoners, the jailer in your county must serve as a bailiff to the circuit and district courts, as provided for in KRS 71.050. The fiscal court may also require the jailer to serve as custodian of county buildings and grounds, as provided for in KRS 67.130. See KRS 441.510(4).
The answer to question no. 1 is that it is up to fiscal court to designate some suitable person to be in charge of the county holdover. The statutes simply do not connect the county jailer with the holdover facility.
Pursuant to KRS 441.245(5), effective January 6, 1986, the salary for jailers in any county where there is no jail and the jailer does not transport prisoners shall be twelve thousand dollars ($12,000) per year. The jailer's salary dealt with in KRS 441.245 was designed to cover the jailers in counties having a regular jail. The maximum compensation for jailers is treated in KRS 64.527, in connection with consumer price index.
Since the present statutes do not specifically deal with the jailer's salary in the Lawrence County situation at present, we conclude, concerning question no. 2, that the fiscal court should establish a reasonable salary for your jailer, based upon his range of functions, as described in KRS 441.510(4), KRS 71.050, and KRS 67.130, and actual performance thereof. However, such salary should not exceed the twelve thousand dollars ($12,000) described in KRS 441.245(5).
Concerning question no. 3, since the jailer is no longer a regular jailer (there being no regular jail in Lawrence County), KRS 71.020, relating to the residence of the jailer in a regular jail, has no application. Therefore, the fiscal court has the authority to direct the jailer to vacate the old jailer's quarters, which are owned by the county. The statutes do not authorize any county furnished residence for the jailer in this situation. See KRS 67.080 and 67.083.