Could a Kentucky fiscal court cut a circuit clerk's law librarian pay during the clerk's term?

Plain-English summary

In 1996, Kentucky's Attorney General concluded that a fiscal court could not reduce a circuit clerk's separate monthly salary for serving as county law librarian while the clerk remained in office. Caldwell County had paid its clerk $75 a month for that duty, then reduced the amount to $50. The AG said the reduction violated the constitutional rule against changing an officer's compensation during the term. The clerk could recover the difference from the county, even though she had accepted the smaller payments.

The opinion treated the librarian work as a statutory duty tied to the circuit clerk's office. It drew on a Kentucky court decision that had forbidden an increase in librarian pay during a clerk's term and applied the same principle to a decrease.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1996. 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

Circuit clerks serving as county law librarians

KRS 172.110 made the circuit clerk the county law librarian and, in the version quoted by the opinion, set a monthly salary range of $50 to $100 for that service. The AG treated the librarian salary as part of the clerk's compensation for constitutional purposes. For the Caldwell clerk, the $75 rate paid when her term began could not be cut to $50 during that term.

Fiscal courts setting librarian compensation

The AG concluded that the fiscal court's reduction was unlawful despite the new amount falling within the statutory range. The constitutional restriction on a midterm change controlled the county's action in the facts presented.

Common questions

Did the statutory $50 minimum let Caldwell County lower the clerk's pay to $50?

No. The AG recognized the $50 to $100 range in KRS 172.110 but concluded that the fiscal court could not reduce the clerk's existing $75 monthly salary during her term.

Did accepting the smaller checks prevent the clerk from claiming the difference?

No. The opinion said acceptance did not bar recovery of the salary deficiency from the county.

Why did the AG treat librarian pay like the circuit clerk's salary?

The librarian role was imposed on the circuit clerk by statute and closely connected to that office. Earlier AG opinions had also counted librarian salary with clerk salary for the constitutional salary limit.

Would adding librarian pay after a clerk took office have been allowed?

The AG cited Greenup County v Spears, 259 Ky 114, 81 SW 2d 905 (1935), which rejected an increase during a clerk's term when the librarian duty was newly imposed. The 1996 opinion applied the same bar to a decrease.

Background and statutory framework

The Caldwell Circuit Clerk began her term in January 1995 and received $75 monthly as county law librarian. The fiscal court reduced that payment to $50 in July 1995. KRS 172.110 assigned librarian duties to circuit clerks and specified a monthly salary range. The AG read Kentucky's constitutional protection against changing an officer's compensation during a term to cover the librarian salary as well as the clerk's primary salary.

Citations and references

• KRS 172.110: librarian duties and the monthly salary range quoted by the opinion.
• Greenup County v Spears, 259 Ky 114, 81 SW 2d 905 (1935): rejected a midterm increase in a clerk's librarian pay.
• Sparks v Boggs, Ky, 339 SW 2d 480 (1960): cited for the rule against increasing or decreasing an officer's compensation during the term.
• Olive Hill v Craig, 267 Ky 38, 101 SW 2d 198 (1937): cited on accepting reduced pay without losing a claim for the full amount.

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.ky.gov/Resources/Opinions/Opinions/OAG96-035.htm

Original opinion text

OAG 96-35

September 11, 1996

Subject: Whether fiscal court may reduce circuit clerk's salary as law librarian

Requested by: Jo Ann Newsom, Caldwell Circuit Clerk

Written by: Ross T. Carter

Syllabus: Fiscal court may not reduce circuit clerk's salary as law librarian during the clerk's term

OAGs cited: OAG 75-573, 80-517, 82-177

Statutes construed: KRS 172.110

Opinion of the Attorney General

The Caldwell Circuit Clerk took office in January 1995. In addition to her salary as circuit clerk, and as required by KRS 172.110, she received a monthly salary for her duties as county law librarian. That salary was $75 per month, the same salary her predecessor had received. In July 1995, the fiscal court reduced the salary to $50 per month. The clerk inquired of the Administrative Office of the Courts and the county attorney regarding the legality of this reduction and, having received conflicting opinions, asks us to provide an opinion to resolve the matter.

The general principle of law implicated in this question is the constitutional prohibition against reducing the compensation of an officer during his term. Ky Const 161, 235. Without question this prohibition applies to the clerk's primary salary as clerk of the circuit and district courts. The precise question before us is whether the prohibition also applies to the salary that a circuit court clerk receives as county law librarian.

Serving as county law librarian has been a statutory duty of circuit clerks since 1930. The statute, KRS 172.110, has remained unchanged since 1954 and provides:

(1) The circuit clerk shall be ex officio librarian of the county law library, and he shall see that county and state officials have access to the library at reasonable hours each day except Sunday and holidays. He shall receive a salary of not less than fifty dollars ($50.00) nor more than one hundred dollars ($100) per month for his services as librarian.

(2) He shall keep the library rooms in order, preserve, arrange and index all the books, charts, maps and furniture belonging in the library, and see that no books or other things are taken from the library rooms without a receipt being given therefor.

(3) He shall receipt for all books, maps and furniture placed in the library. The receipts shall be given to the state law librarian and preserved in his office at Frankfort.

(4) He shall take an inventory each December of all the books, maps, charts or other property in the library belonging to the state and report the inventory under oath to the state law librarian before January 1 of the following year.

This statute plainly imposes a duty on the circuit clerk. We have said that the duty has such affinity or connection with the office of circuit clerk that the librarian duty cannot be delegated to a person other than a deputy clerk, and the salary as librarian must be added to the salary as clerk when determining whether the officer has reached the constitutional maximum salary limit. OAG 75-573, 80-517, 82-177.

Although there are no reported cases dealing with a reduction in a clerk's salary as law librarian, the inverse situation was presented in Greenup County v Spears, 259 Ky 114, 81 SW 2d 905 (1935). In that case a circuit clerk, who was in office when the statute was enacted imposing the law librarian duty, requested payment of the law librarian salary during his term. The Court of Appeals held that he was not entitled to the extra salary. Payment of the salary would violate sections 161 and 235 because it would amount to increasing the officer's salary during his term. Even though the legislature imposed additional duties on the officer, he could not receive payment for them under the rule expressed in Coleman v Hurst, 226 Ky 501, 11 SW 2d 133 (1928), where the court stated, “The question is always whether the General Assembly is acting within its authority in changing the duties of the office by imposing additional work on the office itself. If that is the effect of an act increasing duties of public office, the compensation may not be increased during the term for the performance of such duties.” Coleman v Hurst, 11 SW 2d at 222.

Any change in compensation during an officer's term, whether an increase or decrease, is unconstitutional. Sparks v Boggs, Ky, 339 SW 2d 480 (1960). If it is illegal to increase a clerk's salary as law librarian during his term, as the court held in Greenup County v Spears, it is illegal to decrease it. We therefore conclude, based on the facts presented to us, that the fiscal court of Caldwell County illegally reduced the circuit clerk's salary as county law librarian. The clerk is entitled to recover from the county the deficiency in her salary. Her acceptance of the lower salary does not estop her from claiming the full salary to which she is entitled. Olive Hill v Craig, 267 Ky 38, 101 SW 2d 198 (1937).

A. B. Chandler III

Attorney General

Ross T. Carter

Assistant Attorney General