Request By:
David Patrick, Esq.
Mercer County Attorney
Mercer County Courthouse
Harrodsburg, Kentucky 40330
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: Thomas R. Emerson, Assistant Attorney General
This is in reply to your letter presenting the following question:
"If a person is issued a citation or served with a warrant prior to July 1, 1979, but is not brought to District Court or arraigned thereon until after July 1, 1979, and thereafter found guilty or else pleads guilty concerning the charge is that person to be assessed with a fine and court cost according to the schedule prior to July 1, 1979, or under the new schedule after July 1, 1979."
We first direct your attention to 22 C.J.S. Criminal Law § 26 where the following appears:
"As a general rule, except in so far as an amendment may operate as an implied repeal of a statute, as discussed in Statutes § 294, the amendment of a criminal statute does not affect the prosecution or punishment of a crime committed before the amendment became effective, but as to such crimes the original statute remains in force. . . ."
In
Sullivan v. Day, 372 F.Supp. 359 (E.D. Ky. 1974), the Court said:
"Thus unless the repealing statute explicitly provides otherwise, the repeal of a criminal statute neither abates the underlying offense nor affects its attendant penalty with respect to acts committed prior to repeal. . . ."
Furthermore, in
Castle v. State, Fla. App., 305 So 2d 794 (1974), the court said:
"A long line of Florida cases clearly hold that the amendment of a criminal statute does not affect either the prosecution or punishment of a crime committed before the amendment becomes effective. * * * Indeed, three Florida appellate decisions specifically hold that punishments provided by statute at the time of the offense are controlling over different punishments provided by changes in the criminal statute prior to trial. . . ."
See also
Madden v. Commonwealth, 202 Ky. 782, 261 S.W. 273 (1924);
Wright v. Bannan, 360 Mich. 455, 104 N.W. 2d 509 (1960);
State v. Watkins, 190 Kan. 446, 375 P. 2d 634 (1962);
Price v. State, 124 Ga.App. 850, 186 S.W.2d 360 (1971);
Berry v. Wolff, 193 Neb. 717, 228 N.W. 2d 885 (1975).
Thus, if the alleged offense was committed prior to July 1, 1979 then the statutes applicable to that offense at that time prevail. For alleged offenses committed on and after July 1, 1979 the amended statutes, effective July 1, 1979, prevail.