Request By:
Mr. Frank Peluso
City Clerk
City of Newport
Court House
4th and York Streets
Newport, Kentucky 41071
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: Walter C. Herdman, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
This is in answer to your letter of April 12 in which you seek information as to what ordinances enacted by the city of Newport [operating under the city manager form of government] must lay over for a period of time before adoption and have two (2) separate readings prior to passage. Your specific questions are as follows:
"1. Are we required to only lay over those Ordinances or Resolutions which pertain to public works and franchises?
"2. May any other Ordinance or Resolution be passed or adopted upon one reading -- at its introduction?
"3. When an Ordinance or Resolution that is required to be laid over must be put into effect immediately, does the provision of KRS 84.100 (Cities of the Second Class) - (3) - prevail . . . 'the requirement of a reading at two (2) separate meetings may be suspended by a vote of two-thirds (2/3) of the members of the board . . .'?"
As pointed out in OAG 63-1111 [copy enclosed] , KRS 89.540 controls the number of readings of all ordinances and resolutions adopted by the city, including, we believe, those required to be held over pursuant to KRS 89.590 which is silent on this subject. KRS 89.540 requires ordinances to be read only once. This statute would, in view of KRS 89.400, take precedent over KRS 84.100 (3) relating to cities operating under the councilmanic form of government which requires all ordinances to be read at two (2) separate meetings; however, under KRS 84.100 [as pointed out in the enclosed opinion] the board could eliminate the problem by voting to suspend the separate reading requirement.
KRS 89.590 (1) reads as follows:
"(1) Every ordinance or resolution ordering the construction or reconstruction of any street or sewer, or making or authorizing any contract involving the expenditure of more than two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500), in a city of the first, second or third class, or two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) in a city of the fourth class, or granting any franchise of the right to use or occupy the streets, highways, bridges or public places of the city for any except a merely temporary purpose shall, after its introduction and before its adoption, remain on file at least one (1) week for public inspection in the completed form in which it shall be put upon its final passage. No such ordinance or resolution shall go into effect until the expiration of ten (10) days after its passage, except when, in case of emergency, the public health or safety requires that it take immediate effect. The fact of emergency shall be declared by the unanimous vote of the board of commissioners." (Emphasis added).
The above statute appears to require every ordinance or resolution relating to construction of streets and sewers or the execution of any contract involving the expenditure of more than $2500, or the granting of any franchise of the right to use or occupy the streets, highways, bridges or public places of the city, to remain on file for at least one (1) week for public inspection following its introduction and before its adoption. Further, no such ordinance or resolution shall go into effect until the expiration of ten (10) days after its passage except in emergencies. It would appear that the above statute requires any type of contract involving the expenditure of more than $2500 to lay over in spite of the fact that the general nature of the statute from the section heading appears to relate only to ordinances involving public works. Of course, section headings do not constitute part of the law. KRS 446.140. Also, the original act passed in 1930 [C. 91, Sec. 27] in no way indicates a limitation on the type of contract in so far as expenditures are concerned. Reference OAG's 70-242 and 68-539.