Request By:
Mr. Ed Burtner
Public Administration Specialist
Big Sandy Area Development District
130 North Lake Drive
Prestonsburg, Kentucky 41653
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: Walter C. Herdman, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
This is in answer to your letter of June 15 in which you relate that the Board of Trustees of Coal Run Village, a sixth class city in Pike County, has authorized you to request an opinion concerning the following:
"(1) May a fourth class city, Pikeville, annex a sixth class city, Coal Run Village?
"Assuming an affirmative answer to the above, a second question arises.
"(2) What process is called for when a fourth class city annexes a sixth class city?"
Our response to your initial question would be in the negative as we find no specific authority for a city of the fourth class to annex a city of the sixth class or, for that matter, a city of any class. The state legislature has authorized cities of the first, second and third class to annex cities of other classes or of the same class pursuant to KRS 81.120, 81.150 and 81.200. These authorizations for certain class cities to annex cities of other classes would clearly indicate unless the legislature has specifically authorized a city of the fourth class to do so, no such authority exists. Thus, where the statute simply authorizes a fourth class city to "annex any territory" , we believe this means unincorporated territory and would not be sufficient to authorize such city to annex another city, such as a sixth class city.
The only case we find dealing generally with the subject is Pence v. City of Frankfort, 101 Ky. 534, 41 S.W. 1011 (1901), where the Court declared that the city of Frankfort [then a third class city] had the right to annex territory constituting a separate and distinct municipality since the statute specifically authorized it to annex territory of another municipality, which provision is presently found coded separately under KRS 81.200.
In view of our answer to your initial question, your second question becomes moot.