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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Could signatures from years earlier count on a Kentucky local option election petition?
Possibly. The AG said the county judge-executive had to assess whether older signatures still supported the same local option election and came from voters qualified both when signing and when the…
Could Kentucky's insurance commissioner regulate a county self-insurance pool that was exempt from the insurance code?
The AG said a particular regulation restricting joint liability did not apply to the certified county self-insurance pool because it was exempt from the insurance code. The commissioner could still…
What happened to Kentucky county magistrates' seats when redistricting reduced their districts?
The AG said new magisterial boundaries took effect when the reapportionment ordinance passed, but sitting magistrates served out their elected terms. A vacancy in an eliminated district would not be…
Did Kentucky counties count soil conservation tax revenue toward the four percent property tax limit in 1992?
No. The AG concluded that the soil and water conservation tax was outside the rate rollback rule in KRS 68.245, so its revenue did not enter the four percent calculation for other covered taxes. The…
Could Kentucky county clerks and sheriffs use excess fees to buy health insurance only for their own staff?
The AG concluded that a 1992 bill allowing certain sheriffs and county clerks to use excess fees for health insurance for their own offices was unconstitutional. It saw no rational basis for…
Could Kentucky researchers compost chicken carcasses under the animal disposal statute as the AG read it in 1992?
The AG concluded that the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture could compost chicken carcasses without violating the animal-carcass disposal statute as it stood in 1992. Its answer rested…
Could a Kentucky officer arrest a domestic violence suspect without a warrant after the victim fled the scene?
The AG said the victim's departure did not by itself prevent a warrantless arrest under the 1992 domestic violence statute. The officer needed probable cause both that the suspect had caused the…
Could a Kentucky school require a student with excessive absences to attend summer school in 1992?
No. The AG concluded that a school could offer a summer program to students whose excessive unexcused absences jeopardized their progress, but could not compel them to attend it under the law…
Did a Kentucky prisoner have the same right to request public records in 1992?
The AG said a prison inmate had the same right to inspect public records as anyone else under the law considered in 1992. It found the Legislative Research Commission's response late, though its…
Could a Kentucky health department run a needle exchange program under the law considered in 1992?
The AG concluded that a needle exchange program would violate Kentucky's drug paraphernalia law as it stood in 1992. The opinion said the health department, its board, and participating individuals…
Could Kentucky election officials share staff support and resources with a nonprofit voter education group?
Yes. The AG said Kentucky election agencies could cooperate with a nonprofit on voter education, registration, and participation programs. It treated those programs as a valid public purpose under…
Did Kentucky's ten-zone limit make its enterprise-zone tax benefits unconstitutional special legislation?
The AG concluded that the enterprise-zone statutes then in force violated Kentucky's bans on local and special legislation. Limiting tax and other benefits to ten selected areas treated other…
Could Kentucky voters or election officers wear campaign buttons or shirts inside a polling place?
The AG said a campaign button or shirt counted as electioneering under KRS 117.235. The prohibition could be enforced against election officers, but the First Amendment prevented applying it to…
When did ordinary Kentucky laws from the 1992 session take effect after early adjournment?
The Attorney General said ordinary legislation from Kentucky's 1992 regular session became effective July 14, 1992. The Assembly actually adjourned April 14, one day earlier than assumed in an…
Were occasional charter and tour buses exempt from Kentucky's interstate vehicle property-tax assessment procedure?
The AG found no exemption in the interstate-vehicle assessment statute for occasional or transient buses and saw no constitutional defect in that procedure. It declined to say whether any particular…
Did a Kentucky city owe the county PVA a fee if it reused the PVA's prior-year property assessments?
The AG concluded in 1992 that a city using the county PVA's earlier assessment as the basis for its current assessment had effectively elected to use it and owed the statutory fee. Whether a…
Could a Kentucky county use voter registration counts instead of federal census figures when redrawing magisterial districts?
The AG said the federal census deserved a strong presumption of correctness and could be set aside only on clear and convincing, county-wide evidence of error. Voter registration figures alone did…
Could parents serve on Kentucky school-based decision-making council committees?
The 1992 AG said the local school board could decide by policy whether parents could serve on committees that recommended matters to the school council. The statute gave certified staff a…
Could Kentucky's proposed 1992 job development assessment on employees be an illegal tax or special legislation?
The AG concluded that the proposed employee assessment was a payment to the employer, not a tax, because it would not go to government or pay governmental costs. It also found the bill's standards…
Did Kentucky's 1990 subdivision-road amendment make counties pay all maintenance costs for roads accepted before July 1990?
The 1992 AG said no. The amendment changed how qualifying roads could be accepted for public maintenance; it did not erase then-existing reimbursement requirements for abutting property owners or…
Could local investors jointly develop a Kentucky horse-racing simulcast facility with a licensed track or buy part of that track?
The 1992 AG said local interests could invest through a joint venture with a licensed track or by buying an ownership interest, provided the licensed track maintained and operated the simulcast…
Could a Kentucky superintendent’s spouse remain an assistant principal if she sometimes filled in for the principal?
The 1992 AG said yes on the stated facts: the spouse met the service exception, and occasional short periods acting for the principal did not amount to regular, permanent supervision of certified or…
Could Kentucky fourth graders join an ungraded primary classroom with kindergarten through third grade?
The 1992 AG said fourth graders could not be placed in a joint class with ungraded primary students under the statute then in force. It noted a State Board exemption process for unusual class-size…
When did the cancellation period start for a home solicitation sale if the seller helped arrange financing after the sales contract?
The 1992 AG said a seller-assisted sale and financing formed one transaction for Kentucky’s home-solicitation rule. The three-business-day cancellation period did not start until the credit contract…
Could a Kentucky university skip competitive procurement for an audit by declaring allegations about its finances an emergency?
The AG said the university's stated need to investigate financial allegations did not show an emergency under KRS 45A.095. It could not decide whether the audit contract was illegal because it…
Did a Kentucky administrative law judge's violation of a governor's ethics order automatically justify removal?
No. The AG said violating a governor's executive order did not automatically violate the Code of Judicial Conduct. The workers' compensation board could remove an administrative law judge for a Code…
Could a Kentucky pharmacist refill a physician’s prescription on a physician assistant’s own authorization?
The 1992 AG said no. A physician assistant could not prescribe or independently authorize a refill under the law the AG read, but could convey the supervising prescriber’s specific authorization if…
How long could Kentucky’s Insurance Department delay access to a narrowed, voluminous records request?
The 1992 AG said an initial two-week inspection estimate was reasonable for the narrowed insurance-records request, but a delay of about three months without a detailed explanation or earliest…
Could a Kentucky city keep a police officer’s disciplinary charges secret through a settlement confidentiality clause?
The 1992 AG said no. Radcliff had to release records showing charges against the former officer and the final action, despite the settlement’s secrecy clause and a privacy objection. The city said…
Could a Kentucky planning commission review a municipal electric utility’s scrubber-waste landfill?
The 1992 AG said the proposed Maceo landfill was exempt from local planning and zoning review under KRS 100.324 on the stated facts: it would take only scrubber waste incidental to producing…
Did a Kentucky county have to provide committee minutes and bid records for an emergency radio contract?
The 1992 AG said Madison County’s oral, incomplete records response was improper. Its telecommunications committee was a public agency whose minutes had to be recorded and released; responsive…
Could a Kentucky prison officer deny an inmate's records request after the records custodian said the reports would be available later?
The 1992 AG said the officer's denial was a nullity because it did not come from the official custodian or her authority. The custodian's initial response was consistent with the Open Records Act,…
Could a Kentucky school board give teachers a 13.5 percent base raise while administrators got only 5 percent?
The 1992 AG said a 13.5 percent increase to the single base salary schedule would apply to administrators as well as teachers. The board could reduce administrators’ extended employment with proper…
Could a Kentucky pharmacy fill a Tennessee physician’s prescription if the doctor lacked a Kentucky license?
The 1992 AG said a Kentucky pharmacy could fill prescriptions only from practitioners licensed under Kentucky law. A Tennessee physician without that license did not qualify; one also licensed in…
How did Kentucky check 1992 pay ceilings for constitutional officers using inflation?
The 1992 AG approved the Department of Local Government’s inflation-based maximum-pay computations under the cited statutes and Kentucky Constitution. The opinion prints the CPI formulas, but some…
Could a Kentucky prison deny an inmate access to transfer forms despite a facility policy favoring release?
The 1992 AG upheld withholding the requested transfer recommendation and authorization forms under the inmate-security statute despite the facility policy. It also faulted the prison’s response for…
Could a Kentucky prison withhold an inmate’s psychological evaluation while giving an incomplete response to his records request?
The 1992 AG upheld withholding the evaluation under the cited inmate-records rule, but found the prison’s written reply untimely and legally insufficient because it gave no specific exemption or…
Could a Kentucky coroner publicly release a deceased person’s psychiatric treatment records obtained for a death investigation?
The 1992 AG said no for records protected by the psychiatrist-patient or psychologist-client privileges. A coroner could require the records for a death investigation, but that limited access did…
Could a Kentucky flood wall commission put its benefit assessment on the county property tax bill?
No. The AG said Spencer County's flood wall commission was formed under the drainage law, which used benefit assessments and its own collection procedure. The property tax billing option belonged to…
Did a Kentucky brick maker's sales tax resale certificate exempt water used in making bricks from the school utility tax?
No. The AG said the resale exclusion in Kentucky's school utility gross receipts tax covered utilities resold as utilities. Water used as a raw material in bricks did not qualify, even though the…
Could Kentucky's governor fire a workers' compensation judge for holding state leases under an ethics executive order?
The AG said the ethics order applied to the administrative law judge and his state leases appeared to conflict with it, but only the Governor's office could officially interpret the order. Its…
Did Kentucky’s criminal-law justification for teacher force override a school regulation banning corporal punishment?
The 1992 AG said no. The criminal statute addressed when physical force was not a crime, while the State Board’s regulation set school employee conduct rules and barred corporal punishment, with…
Could a Kentucky state university avoid attorney hiring and contract rules by calling a lawyer a part-time employee or auditor?
The AG said a state university had to follow KRS 12.210 when hiring an attorney for legal services, even as an employee. If it bought services by contract, it also had to follow the personal service…
Could Kentucky deny a broad juvenile-justice records request because of litigation and the volume of files?
The 1992 AG said pending civil litigation and a motion for a protective order did not by themselves justify withholding the records. The cabinet could deny seven broad categories as unduly…
Must both vehicle owners sign a Kentucky UCC filing when the title joins their names with 'or'?
Yes. The AG concluded that a UCC filing for a jointly owned vehicle required the same signatures whether the title joined the owners' names with 'and' or 'or'. The word 'or' did not reduce either…
Could Louisville withhold detailed monthly invoices from lawyers it paid with public money?
The 1992 AG said the city improperly withheld the invoices as a whole. Statements showing fees, hours, and the general nature of legal services had to be disclosed, with any genuinely privileged…
Could a Kentucky city reject a public-records request because the written request arrived by fax?
The 1992 AG said no. The statute allowed a custodian to require a written application but did not prescribe how it had to be sent; a fax identified the requested records and satisfied that purpose.…
What effective date did Kentucky's AG predict for 1992 laws if lawmakers adjourned April 15?
The January 1992 opinion projected July 15 for ordinary session laws on the assumption that lawmakers would adjourn April 15. They actually adjourned April 14, and the AG later gave July 14 as the…
Could a Kentucky county school district hire a private agency to collect overdue occupational license taxes?
The 1992 AG said no. Overdue school taxes remained school taxes, and the cited collection statutes allowed collection by the sheriff or an appointed school employee, not a private collection agency.…
Could a Kentucky county attorney hire out-of-county contract lawyers to prosecute child-support and paternity cases?
The 1992 AG said lawyers prosecuting the specified paternity, URESA, or cabinet child-support actions performed county-attorney duties and therefore were assistant county attorneys subject to the…
Could Kentucky reduce a turnpike debt-payment fund allotment during a road-fund shortfall despite an escrow rule?
The 1992 AG said yes. The escrow rule concerned money already allocated but unusable for faster bond repayment because of bond or market impediments; it did not bar reducing the allocation when…
Could a Kentucky school board pay for crossing guards after a city stopped staffing a school intersection?
The 1992 AG said common school funds could not pay for school crossing guards because that was not an educational purpose under the Kentucky Constitution. It also said the city controlled traffic on…
Which Louisville EMS demotion and reinstatement records had to be released under Kentucky’s Open Records Act?
The 1992 AG said Louisville had to release the medical director’s withdrawal and reinstatement memoranda and the city memorandum adopting reinstatement. Internal preliminary material could remain…
Could a Kentucky Medicaid formulary subcommittee meet in private to discuss and vote on drug recommendations?
The 1992 AG said no on the facts given. The Formulary Subcommittee was a public agency under the Open Meetings Act, and its drug discussions and recommendation votes did not fit a cited exception…
Could Kentucky officials order and forcibly enforce an emergency evacuation, and when would they be liable?
The 1992 AG said the Governor, mayors and county judges/executive could initiate an emergency response that included evacuation, and officials could remove people by force when needed to enforce it.…
Could Louisville fund management-district economic improvements by assessing benefited property owners?
The 1992 AG said the statutes permitted special assessments for economic improvements in a management district and that an assessment had to benefit the property charged. It could not decide whether…
When does a Kentucky school employee’s new assignment count as a prohibited promotion of a superintendent’s or board member’s relative?
The 1992 AG said a transfer, move from substitute to full-time teaching, or extra-service assignment did not automatically count as a promotion. The answer depended on whether the change materially…
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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.