Request By:
Mr. James S. Secrest
Allen County Attorney
Box 35
Scottsville, Kentucky 42164
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: Charles W. Runyan, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
When the punishment for a crime is imprisonment in the county jail, the jury may, in its discretion, in those cases in which it is authorized to fix the punishment, provide in its verdict that defendant shall work at hard labor during such sentence of imprisonment. The court may provide for hard labor in such cases where there is no jury or where the punishment is authorized to be fixed by the court. KRS 431.140. Allen County does not have a workhouse. The district judge has indicated that he will provide for hard labor in most orders where imprisonment is involved.
Your question is: Under what circumstances and under whose supervision would such hard labor be conducted?
Under KRS 441.120, prior to the 1976 (Ex. Sess.) amendment, a defendant given hard labor was required to be placed in a workhouse, if one existed in the county, or at work upon some public work or road of the county, or upon the public works of any city in the county. The place and manner of such work were to be determined by the county judge under a county court order, perference being given to county road projects. KRS 441.140, prior to the 1976 (Ex. Sess.) amendment, provided that the county court may prescribe by order of record regulations covering the workhouse and prisoners sentenced to hard labor and those in charge of them, including the number of hours of work and how they shall be secured at work and at other times. Under those statutes a county jailer had to act under the direction of the county judge in working prisoners at hard labor.
The 1976 amendment to KRS 441.120 [place prisoners to work] merely substitutes county judge/executive for county judge. The amendment of KRS 441.140 merely substitutes the fiscal court for the county court in prescribing rules governing the working of county jail prisoners.
As you say, once a misdemeanant is sentenced to confinement in the county jail at hard labor, the county judge/executive in your county must determine the kind and place of work and general schedule of such work by way of an order in his executive order book. KRS 441.120. The rules governing such work as to hours and the supervisory function and security matters must be prescribed by fiscal court. KRS 441.140. The county jailer in this situation must act under the direction of the county judge/executive.
You say the county jailer does not have the personnel to supervise or to secure the prisoners while they are at "hard labor. "
While the fiscal court has the authority to provide regulations dealing with prisoners sentenced to hard labor and those in charge of them, including working hours and how they are to be secured while at work and at other times [KRS 441.140], KRS 441.150 allows the county judge/executive to appoint crew managers and guards to serve during the pleasure of the county judge/executive.
When the prisoners are placed on county road projects, the county judge/executive may utilize county road employees as such crew managers and guards where practicable and desirable from the standpoint of the most efficient use of county road personnel.
You ask whether such prisoners worked at hard labor are entitled to any extra pay or credit.
We are not aware of any statutory provision for extra pay or credit in connection with hard labor.