What were Kentucky constitutional officers' maximum salaries after the 1995 cost-of-living adjustment?
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This page answers the general question as of 1995. Ask about yours and see what current Kentucky law means for your facts, with citations you can check.
Plain-English summary
In 1995, Kentucky's Attorney General reviewed the Department of Local Government's annual adjustment of constitutional officers' maximum compensation using the Consumer Price Index. It concluded that the listed calculations appeared accurate and legally proper on the information supplied. The opinion gave separate maximums for county and city officers, state constitutional officers, the Governor, county attorneys, and Commonwealth's Attorneys.
Most figures used the December 1994 index of 448.4 compared with the 1949 index of 71.4. The Governor's calculation instead compared the index used for the beginning of 1984 with the one announced in January 1995. These were 1995 compensation ceilings or prescribed salary calculations, not current pay rates.
Currency note
This opinion was issued in 1995. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.
Historical summary
County and city officers
The opinion approved a $45,216.81 maximum for the listed county judge/executives, county clerks, sheriffs, magistrates, county commissioners, coroners, and jailers. It gave the same maximum for mayors of cities other than first class and city legislative body members. For a first-class city mayor, the calculated maximum was $75,361.34.
State constitutional officers and Governor
The AG approved $75,361.34 for the Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Commissioner of Agriculture, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, Auditor of Public Accounts, and Clerk of the Supreme Court. It approved the Department's $88,645.80 figure for the Governor under a different statutory base-year formula.
County and Commonwealth's Attorneys
The opinion treated $75,361.34 as the county attorney's combined state and county compensation maximum and $45,216.81 as the maximum for prosecutorial duties. It assigned $75,361.34 to full-time Commonwealth's Attorneys and, following OAG 85-54, $45,216.81 to part-time Commonwealth's Attorneys.
Transcription detail in the Governor's formula
The source prints “448.4 / 305.5” in one line of the Governor's calculation, while the preceding sentence, following algebra, and stated $88,645.80 result use 303.5. This page reports the AG's stated result and preserves both figures as printed in the original text below.
Common questions
What 1995 salary ceiling did the opinion give for listed county officers?
$45,216.81. The opinion applied that figure to the county offices it listed under KRS 64.527.
Did all constitutional officers use the same 1995 ceiling?
No. The AG gave different figures for groups of officers. Several state constitutional officers had a $75,361.34 figure, while the Governor's separately calculated figure was $88,645.80.
How did the opinion treat a county attorney's two roles?
It said the $75,361.34 total maximum covered state prosecutorial compensation and county civil-adviser compensation together; the prosecutorial portion had a $45,216.81 maximum.
Did the AG establish these figures independently?
The AG reviewed the Department of Local Government's submitted calculations and supporting information, then found the results accurate and legally proper based on the data supplied.
Background and statutory framework
The opinion applied section 246 of the Kentucky Constitution through the purchasing-power method associated with Matthews v. Allen and Commonwealth v. Hesch. KRS 64.527 addressed county officers; KRS 83A.075(1) addressed city officers; KRS 64.480(4) supplied the Governor's separate adjustment. KRS 15.765(3) addressed the county attorney's combined maximum. The AG cited Coleman v. Hurst for applying a constitutional compensation limit across more than one role.
Citations and references
- KRS 64.527: annual calculation for listed county officers.
- KRS 83A.075(1): city mayor and legislative body maximums.
- KRS 64.480(4): Governor's adjusted salary formula.
- KRS 15.765(3): county attorney's combined compensation limit.
- KRS 15.755(7): full-time Commonwealth's Attorney maximum.
- Matthews v. Allen, Ky., 360 S.W.2d 135 (1962), and Commonwealth v. Hesch, Ky., 395 S.W.2d 362 (1965): purchasing-power adjustment method.
- Coleman v. Hurst, 226 Ky. 501, 11 S.W.2d 133 (1928): compensation limit across multiple services.
Source
Original opinion text
OAG 95-5
February 21, 1995
Subject: 1995 Cost of Living Adjustment to Allowable Maximum Salaries of Certain Constitutional Officers
Written by: Gerard Gerhard
Requested by: Hon. Bruce Ferguson, Commissioner, Department of Local Government
Syllabus: Department of Local Government appears to have accurately computed allowable cost of living adjustment for 1995, of salaries of certain constitutional officers, in view of changes in the consumer price index.
OAGs cited: 85-54, 94-7
Statutes cited: 15.730; 15.765(1); 15.765(3); 15.755; 15.755(7); 64.480 (2); 64.480(3); 64.480(4); 64.527; 69.210; 83A.075(1)
Constitutional provisions cited: 99; 246
OPINION OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
The following question, in substance, has been presented:
Has the Department of Local Government properly calculated the allowable adjustment of certain officials salaries, given changes in the cost of living as determined based upon the Consumer Price Index Report of the U. S. Department of Labor, for December 1994?
Based upon a review of calculations and supporting information provided, the Department of Local Government appears to have accurately computed the 1995 cost of living adjustment to the allowable maximum salaries of certain elected officers, given changes in the consumer price index. Discussion follows.
Pursuant to KRS 15.755(7); 15.765(1) and (3); 64.480(2), (3), and (4); 64.527; and 83A.075, the Department of Local Government annually computes, by the second Friday in February of each year, the maximum compensation payable to constitutional officers listed in those sections. The computation is made under the theory adopted by the court in Matthews v. Allen, Ky., 360 S.W.2d 135 (1962), and Commonwealth v. Hesch, Ky., 395 S.W.2d 362 (1965).
For 1995, the Department's computations were set forth in the Department's letter of February 3, 1995, requesting verification of its calculations.
The Department's computations were based upon the court-established formula application of section 246 of the Kentucky Constitution, setting forth maximum compensation levels for state and local governmental constitutional officers. Under the prescribed formula, salaries paid to constitutional officers are adjusted in accordance with the current purchasing power of the dollar, in relation to salary maximums set in the 1949 amendment of section 246 of Kentucky's Constitution. The adjustments are based upon the "Consumer Price Index" (hereinafter "CPI") maintained by the U. S.
Department of Commerce, Bureau of Labor Statistics. A news release issued by the Bureau's Southeast Regional Office at Atlanta, dated January 11, 1995, establishes the CPI as of December, 1994, for "all items" as being 448.4. The CPI for 1949 was 71.4.
The following computations are set forth in the Department's letter:
Local Officials - County
Pursuant to the provisions of KRS 64.527, the Department of Local Government is required to compute, by the second Friday in February of every year, the maximum annual compensation of the county judge/executives, county clerks, sheriffs, magistrates, county commissioners, coroners, and jailers.
Under the CPI formula adopted by the court in Matthews v. Allen, Ky., 360 S.W.2d 135 (1962), the maximum annual compensation for county officers in 1995 is $45,216.81, as determined by the following formula:
448.4/71.4 (Current CPI in terms of 1949) = X / $ 7,200
71.4X = 448.4 X $7,200
71.4X = $ 3,228,480
X = $ 45,216.81 (Rounded)
Local Officials - City
First Class City Mayors
Pursuant to the provisions of KRS 83A.075(1), the Department of Local Government is required to compute, by the second Friday in February of every year, the maximum annual compensation of the mayor in cities of the first class. As computed by the Department, the maximum salary for a mayor of a first class city for 1995 is $75,361.34, as determined by the following formula:
448.4 / 71.4 (Current CPI in terms of 1949) = X / $12,000
71.4X = 448.4 X $12,000
71.4X = $ 5,380,800
X = $ 75,361.34 (Rounded)
Mayors of Cities Other Than First Class, Members of Legislative Bodies of Cities of All Classes
Pursuant to KRS 83A.075(1), the Department of Local Government computes the maximum annual compensation for mayors of cities of other than the first class, and of members of legislative bodies of cities of all classes, including cities of the first class. The maximum compensation for these officers for 1995 is $45,216.81, as determined by the following formula:
448.4 / 71.4 (Current CPI in terms of 1949) = X / $ 7,200
71.4X = 448.4 X $7,200
71.4X = $ 3,228,480
X = $ 45,216.81 (Rounded)
State Constitutional Officers
Section 246 of the Constitution of Kentucky sets a maximum compensation of $12,000 for the Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Commissioner of Agriculture, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, Auditor of Public Accounts, and Clerk of the Supreme Court of Kentucky. Pursuant to KRS 64.480(2), these officers must be paid the maximum permissible compensation each year.
As computed by the Department of Local Government, the maximum possible annual compensation to the constitutional officers listed above for 1995 is $75,361.34, as determined by the following computation:
448.4 / 71.4 (Current CPI in terms of 1949) = X / $12,000
71.4X = 448.4 X $12,000
71.4X = $ 5,380,800
X = $ 75,361.34 (Rounded)
Governor
The Department of Local Government has computed the maximum compensation of the Governor for 1995 as $88,645.80, on the basis indicated below.
Pursuant to the provisions of KRS 64.480(4), the Department of Local Government is required to compute, by the second Friday in February of every year beginning in 1985, an adjusted salary of the Governor. As provided by the statute, the Governor's salary is determined by multiplying the base compensation of $60,000 by the increase in the CPI during the period from January 1, 1984, to the beginning of the then-current calender year, here 1995. The CPI announced in January, 1984, was 303.5, and that announced in January, 1995, 448.4. Accordingly, the Department determined the maximum salary of the Governor for 1995 by the following formula:
448.4 / 305.5 (Current CPI in terms of 1949) = X / $60,000
303.5X = 448.4 X $60,000
303.5X = $ 26,904,000
X = $ 88,645.80 (Rounded)
County Attorney
The county attorney, although a county officer under section 99 of Kentucky's Constitution, and KRS 69.210, has been given a statewide function in his prosecutorial role pursuant to KRS 15.730. KRS 15.765(3) provides, in substance and in part, that the maximum annual salary of a county attorney shall be $12,000 pursuant to section 246 of Kentucky's Constitution, as such figure is adjusted consistent with the CPI for the preceding year, using 1949 as the base year, by the second Friday in February of every year. The figure determined upon such basis is the combined maximum the county attorney may receive from both the state, for prosecutorial services, and from the county, as its civil advisor. This is in keeping with the ruling in Coleman v. Hurst, 226 Ky. 501, 11 S.W.2d 133 (1928), that the constitutional compensation limit applies whether services are rendered in one position, or more than one.
The Department of Local Government has computed the maximum annual compensation for the county attorney in accordance with KRS 15.765(3) for 1995, as $75,361.34, based upon the following formula:
448.4 / 71.4 (Current CPI in terms of 1949) = X / $12,000
71.4X = 448.4 X $12,000
71.4X = $ 5,380,800
X = $ 75,361.34 (Rounded)
KRS 15.765(1) provides, in effect, that the maximum compensation of a county attorney for prosecutorial duties shall be based upon applying the CPI adjustment to a salary of $7,200. Accordingly the Department has computed the maximum allowable compensation of a county attorney for 1995, for prosecutorial duties, as $45,216.81, based upon the following formula:
448.4 / 71.4 (Current CPI in terms of 1949) = X / $ 7,200
71.4X = 448.4 X $7,200
71.4X = $ 3,228,480
X = $ 45,216.81 (Rounded)
Commonwealth's Attorney
Pursuant to KRS 15.755(7), the maximum annual compensation possible for full-time Commonwealth's Attorneys for 1995 is $75,361.34 which is based upon the following formula:
448.4 / 71.4 (Current CPI in terms of 1949) = X / $12,000
71.4X = 448.4 X $12,000
71.4X = $ 5,380,800
X = $ 75,361.34 (Rounded)
Part-Time Commonwealth's Attorney
OAG 85-54 interpreted the provisions of KRS 15.755 to indicate that part-time Commonwealth's Attorneys are to be paid a salary equal to the maximum state share for the County Attorney. That amount, as indicated above, is $45,216.81 for 1995.
Conclusion
We have reviewed the Department's computation, for 1995, of the cost of living adjustment of the allowable maximum salaries of certain constitutional officers, and the bases of those computations as reflected in the letter of February 3, 1995, in view of related legal considerations. We believe the maximum compensation levels computed for 1995, for the positions indicated in the letter, are accurate and proper from a legal perspective based upon the data supplied for our review.
By way of background, the computation verification by this office in 1994 was given by OAG 94-7.
CHRIS GORMAN
ATTORNEY GENERAL
Gerard R. Gerhard
Assistant Attorney General
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