Kentucky Attorney General Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of attorney general opinions issued in Kentucky, with full citations and the original source on every page.
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What did Kentucky's Department of Local Government have to check in city and county ethics codes?
The AG said the department had to receive and keep local ethics ordinances, track which governments adopted them, and notify state agencies of noncompliance. Its review concerned the basic elements…
Could Kentucky's engineering licensing board use a hearing officer for disciplinary hearings?
The AG said the board could not delegate disciplinary hearings to a hearing officer under KRS 322.200(1) as it stood in 1994. He said a new administrative procedures law would permit that delegation…
Could a Kentucky county judge redirect the road-program expense allowance to the county treasury?
No. The AG said the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet could not pay the county judge's statutory road-program expense allowance to the county treasury at the judge's request.
How did Kentucky's 1994 Senate Bill 80 affect disability retirement reductions?
The AG read Senate Bill 80 as temporarily suspending the reduction in KRS 61.615 paragraph 4(d), with past reductions during the specified period to be repaid. He found the bill's attempted…
Did private financing of the University of Kentucky library trigger state capital construction rules?
The AG said the University of Kentucky library project was outside KRS 45.750-.800 because the private Alumni Association would obtain and spend the bond proceeds, build the library, and transfer it…
Could a Kentucky jailer refuse a prisoner if the criminal charge was a pretext for mental health detention?
The AG said a jailer could not refuse a lawfully committed person charged with a crime merely because the charge appeared to be a ruse to hold the person pending a mental health petition. The…
Which Kentucky school employees were barred from selling goods or services to their districts in 1994?
The AG said KRS 156.480(2) covered school employees with decision-making authority over district finances, including officials with broad budget control and employees who chose or recommended…
Who could vote in a Kentucky school council's special minority parent election in 1994?
The AG said the special election for a minority parent member was for minority parents and parents of minority students, not all parents. It also rejected holding the special election immediately…
Could a Kentucky student living in another county vote by paper absentee ballot in 1994?
The AG concluded that a student living outside the Kentucky county where the student was registered could vote by paper absentee ballot, even if the school was in another Kentucky county. Students…
Could Kentucky public schools use metal detectors to search students for weapons?
The AG said schools could use metal detectors to look for weapons if searches were reasonable and followed established district policies. The opinion distinguished general screening from a targeted…
Could a Kentucky criminal court order restitution directly to a victim's insurer?
The AG said a criminal court could not order restitution or reparation directly to an insurer that had paid the victim. Under the 1994 statutes it analyzed, the insurer was neither the crime victim…
Could a Kentucky fiscal court charge cities or arrestees a general county jail booking fee?
The AG said a Kentucky fiscal court could not impose a general administrative booking fee on a municipality or arrestee without statutory authority. It distinguished fees agreed with a city for…
What did Kentucky's AG say about prayer at public school graduation in 1994?
The AG said school administrators could not arrange clergy-led prayer at public school graduation. It could not clearly say student-directed prayer was constitutional, but discussed conditions under…
Could Lexington require a voter referendum before raising its occupational tax above 2%?
The AG said Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government could not amend its charter to require voter approval before an occupational license tax exceeded 2%. It found no constitutional or statutory…
Could Louisville professional service contracts be voided for missing no-bid findings?
Based on the ordinance excerpts provided, the AG said Louisville did not require its finance director to make a detailed written finding that bidding was infeasible. It also found no requirement…
Did Kentucky schools have to provide indoor smoking rooms under the 1994 government workplace law?
The AG said KRS 61.165's indoor smoking area requirement for certain governmental workplaces did not apply to school districts. It treated the then-existing school premises rule in KRS 438.050 as…
Could Kentucky teachers vote to repeal school-based decision making after adopting it?
The AG said a school board could not let a faculty majority repeal school-based decision making through a local policy. Once a school adopted the system, it could opt out only through the KRS…
Could a Kentucky beer label state '5.6% ALC./VOL.' without further explanation?
The AG said the proposed Molson beer label's '5.6% ALC./VOL.' statement adequately explained its alcohol content under KRS 244.520 without another narrative explanation. It distinguished that…
Could a Kentucky DUI sentence be served in home incarceration under the 1994 law?
The AG said a court could impose home incarceration for a first, second, or third DUI conviction under the 1994 statutes, unless a specified recent violent felony conviction barred it. A fourth or…
Could a Kentucky county clerk record a will mailed from another state before Kentucky probate?
The AG said a Kentucky county clerk could not record a will mailed from another state without documentation that a Kentucky district court had admitted it to probate. Out-of-state probate of a…
Did a court ruling against mandatory student insurance invalidate Kentucky's hospital payment rule?
The AG said KRS 205.575(14)(d) remained valid for student health insurance obtained voluntarily, even though a circuit court had invalidated the separate statute compelling students to buy that…
Could a Kentucky fiscal court create a sanitation district without taxing power?
The AG said a fiscal court could not remove a KRS Chapter 220 sanitation district board's statutory taxing authority. KRS 220.035 listed fiscal court powers concerning districts and did not include…
Could a Kentucky circuit clerk count county law librarian pay toward county retirement?
The AG said pay to a circuit court clerk for part-time service as ex officio county law librarian could not be credited to either the County Employees Retirement System or Kentucky Employees…
When did Kentucky's 1994 motor voter registration bill take effect?
The AG concluded that Kentucky Senate Bill 262, implementing the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, would take effect January 1, 1995. It relied on the bill's federal-law references, the…
When did Kentucky schools have to hold minority school council elections under the 1994 amendment?
The AG said qualifying schools whose councils lacked a minority member had to arrange special elections in a timely manner after Senate Bill 51 took effect July 15, 1994. They could not wait for the…
Did Kentucky's 1992 executive lobbying registration fine apply despite the statute saying 'legislative agent'?
The AG said KRS 11A.990(6)'s reference to a 'legislative agent' was a clear drafting error and had to be read as 'executive agency lobbyist.' The commission could apply the filing-deficiency fine to…
Could a Kentucky school district pay a deceased teacher's unused sick leave to the estate?
The AG said a school district could not pay the unused sick leave of an active teacher who died before retirement to the estate or a named beneficiary, even if the teacher had been eligible to…
Could a Kentucky school board adopt seniority rules for classified employee layoffs?
The AG said a local school board could adopt a seniority policy for classified employees after House Bill 50 required written employment policies, including layoff procedures. It expressly overruled…
Could a Kentucky solid waste district require every household and business to participate?
The AG said a properly constituted Kentucky solid waste management district could require all waste-producing households and businesses to participate without additional fiscal court action, if the…
Could a Kentucky court consider a family's religious beliefs before ordering medical treatment for a child?
The AG said KRS 610.310(2) let a court consider, or decline to consider, a child and family's religious beliefs when ordering medical treatment. It concluded that this discretion did not create a…
Could a Kentucky county police officer join a campaign, manage it, or run for office?
The AG said a candidate's campaign counted as a political group that an off-duty, out-of-uniform officer could join. It also said a covered officer could not serve as a campaign manager, secretary,…
Did a Kentucky county clerk have to allow a mortgage extension note in the record's margin?
The AG said a Kentucky county clerk was not required to allow a lender and borrower to write a mortgage extension memorandum in the margin of the original mortgage record. It concluded that…
Could someone who bought and stored grain claim payment from Kentucky's grain insurance fund?
The AG said people who merely bought grain from a facility and stored it there were not 'producers' under the Kentucky Grain Insurance Fund statute if they did not own, rent, or operate land in…
When did ordinary laws from Kentucky's 1994 legislative session take effect?
The Attorney General concluded that ordinary laws passed in Kentucky's 1994 Regular Session took effect Friday, July 15, 1994. The opinion excluded general appropriation measures and acts with…
Could a Kentucky school board review school council policies before they took effect?
The AG said a school board could require proposed school council policies to be reviewed promptly by counsel and a central office administrator for legal, safety, liability, financial, and contract…
Were Kentucky university senate and faculty meetings open to the public?
The AG advised that the University of Kentucky Senate and its college and department faculties were public agencies under the 1994 open meetings law because each had delegated responsibility for…
Could a Kentucky landowner record a subdivision plat they prepared without a licensed surveyor?
The AG said a landowner's exemption from surveyor-registration rules did not exempt an owner-prepared subdivision plat from the separate filing rule requiring a registered surveyor's seal and…
Was a Kentucky deed into a revocable family trust exempt from real estate transfer tax?
The AG said the described deed to a revocable living trust was subject to Kentucky real estate transfer tax because the grantor kept a life interest while transferring the property to himself as…
Did a Kentucky local government have to secure uncleared deposits with collateral?
The AG said the 1994 collateral requirement covered the full amount of a local government's bank deposits above federal insurance, including deposited items the bank had not yet collected. The…
Could a Kentucky county buy road asphalt under a bid that named no quantity or project?
The AG said Marion County's open-ended asphalt bid failed Kentucky's competitive-bidding requirement because it identified no quantities, projects, or supply period. It concluded the resulting…
Did a 0.151 percent alcohol test require a four-hour DUI hold in Kentucky in 1994?
Yes. In 1994, the AG read the statute's phrase 'above .15 percent' literally, so a .151 percent test result was above the line and triggered at least four hours in custody after a DUI arrest. The…
Could Kentucky's legislature create a health-care oversight office under the LRC?
The AG concluded that the proposed House Bill 102 could place a health-care accountability office under the Legislative Research Commission to investigate publicly funded programs and report…
When would ordinary Kentucky laws from the 1994 session take effect after adjournment?
For ordinary 1994 session laws without an emergency or delayed effective date, the AG gave two conditional answers: July 12, 1994 if final adjournment was April 12, and July 13, 1994 if it was April…
Did Kentucky's 1994 proposed handgun ban for minors violate constitutional arms rights?
The AG concluded in 1994 that proposed House Bill 359, which restricted minors' possession of handguns and provision of handguns to minors, did not violate the federal or Kentucky constitutional…
Who transported prisoners from a Kentucky holdover jail when the county had no transport plan?
The AG said a county operating a holdover jail could adopt a transport plan assigning prisoner trips to the jailer, sheriff, or another specified party. Because Anderson County had adopted no plan,…
Which newspaper had to carry notices of Kentucky master commissioner's sales?
The AG said Campbell Circuit Court master commissioner sales generally had to be advertised in the Campbell County Recorder, which it understood was the county's only qualified newspaper. It…
Could a Kentucky school board require school council committees and set who served on them?
The AG said a local board could not require a school council to create committees; that choice belonged to the council. If committees were formed, the board could require the council to allow…
What salary ceilings did Kentucky calculate for constitutional officers in 1994?
The AG approved the Department of Local Government's 1994 CPI calculations for the offices listed in the request. It reported $44,047.06 for the listed county officers, $73,411.76 for several state…
Could Lexington-Fayette's urban-county government set an occupational tax above one percent?
The AG's office said Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government could impose an occupational tax above the one-percent limit in KRS 68.197 by exercising the city powers granted to urban-county…
Could Kentucky judges serve on university boards or appoint members of other government bodies?
The AG said a sitting judge could not serve as a state-university regent exercising executive power, but distinguished University of Kentucky trustees under a statute saying they were not public…
Did Kentucky's restriction on public funding for abortions conflict with federal Medicaid requirements in 1994?
The AG said Kentucky's restriction on using state funds for abortions except to save a woman's life conflicted with HHS's stated Medicaid requirement to cover abortions following rape or incest. It…
Could a Kentucky merit employee lead a nonpartisan political advocacy group?
The AG said Kentucky merit-system employees could participate in and lead United We Stand America as the office understood its nonpartisan activities in 1994. It read KRS 18A.140(4) as barring…
Could Kentucky counties be liable for KRT insurance revenue bonds, and could the insurer operate under its existing license?
In 1994, the AG said KRT Insurance Company could conduct business within its existing license, though the Department of Insurance could revoke it if improperly issued. The office also saw little…
Did religious objections to a child's medical treatment remove Kentucky's child abuse reporting and investigation duties?
No. The 1993 AG opinion said a child denied necessary medical care because of a parent's religious beliefs could still be considered abused or neglected. The statutory reporting and Cabinet…
Did Kentucky's ethics law bar a state employee from taking a job with the Kentucky Lottery Corporation?
The 1993 AG opinion said KRS 11A.040's restriction on taking a job with a business dealing with the state did not apply to employment with the Kentucky Lottery Corporation. The Lottery was a state…
Did a Kentucky power of attorney for transferring a car title have to be recorded with the county clerk?
No. The 1993 opinion concluded that a vehicle certificate of title did not have to be recorded or lodged for record under KRS 382.370, so a power of attorney used to transfer the vehicle did not…
Could Kentucky's governor call a legislative special election before a future-dated resignation took effect?
Yes. The 1993 opinion said the governor could issue a special-election writ once a legislator's written future-dated resignation was accepted, even though the seat was not yet empty. Acceptance made…
Could Kentucky highway departments install driveway culverts where private land meets a public road?
Yes, under the 1993 AG opinion's road-protection reasoning. A county could install culverts under a uniform policy to protect its road system, and the state could do likewise along state highways.…
Were private contractors administering Kentucky county association funds subject to the Open Records Act?
It depended on funding. In 1993, the AG classified three KACo program administrators as public agencies because at least 25% of their funds came from public-agency programs. It classified two others…
Was interstate railroad insurance exempt from Kentucky's unauthorized-insurer premium tax?
Yes, if it was lawfully obtained from an unauthorized insurer because coverage could not be procured from an authorized insurer. The 1993 AG opinion said the railroad exemption from the Surplus…
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Attorney general opinions in Kentucky are written by the Kentucky Attorney General's office in response to questions from state agencies, legislators, and prosecutors. They are not binding like court decisions, but courts and agencies treat them as persuasive guidance on how state law applies. Every opinion above has a plain-English question and short answer, plus a link to the full original text.