Request By:
Mr. Frederick G. Neikirk
Pulaski County Attorney
104 W. Columbia Street
Somerset, Kentucky 42501
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: Charles W. Runyan, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
Pulaski County has employees in its road department who are receiving their pay approximately every two weeks. The fiscal court meets the first and third Wednesday of every month at which time the payroll is approved for the past two week period. During the months that have an extra week, the road employees are placed in a position of hardship by not receiving their salary, since the court has not met during that period.
Your question reads:
"Can the Fiscal Court approve the payroll prior to the actual pay period so that the Clerk can issue checks without having to wait for the next Fiscal Court meeting for approval?"
The answer to your question is "yes", assuming that the issuance of the checks will reflect only compensation being given for services that have previously been performed. It is well established that a public employee can only be paid for services actually rendered. See Section 3 of the Kentucky Constitution and KRS 64.410. Also see Ray v. Woodruff, 168 Ky. 563, 182 S.W. 662 (1916) 664. What we are saying is that precisely at the time the checks are actually issued and delivered to the county employees, the checks must relate only to services actually performed prior to the issuance and delivery of the checks to the payees.