Request By:
Mr. W. Logan Calvert
Hopkins County Attorney
P.O. Box 691
Courthouse
Madisonville, Kentucky 42431
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: Charles W. Runyan, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
On May 19, 1978, the Hopkins County Fiscal Court voted to increase their salaries from $625.95 to $1,000 per month. You are speaking of the justices of the peace on the fiscal court.
Your question is whether this salary increase violates the terms of the Kentucky Constitution or the statute covering compensation.
The justices of the peace who serve on fiscal courts are tied into the annual increase of compensation under the consumer price index which has been adopted by the courts. Under the rubber dollar theory the fiscal court at any time, in implementing KRS 64.527, can adjust the salaries of the justices of the peace upward, subject to the maximum rubber dollar amount payable in 1978 [which is $18,763.20].
It is our opinion that this salary increase does not violate the Kentucky Constitution or statute, since the rubber dollar principle means that the salaries of various constitutional officers are merely being kept abreast of the initial value of purchasing power. See Section 246