Request By:
Mr. R. L. Ballou
City Attorney
206 North Main Street
P.O. Drawer 124
Corbin, Kentucky 40704
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: Elizabeth E. Blackford, Assistant Attorney General
You have asked whether a member of a police or fire department of a second or third class city or an urbancounty government may be required to pay for costs incurred in the prosecution of a disciplinary action pursuant to KRS 95.450 when as a result of that proceeding disciplinary action is taken. The answer is no.
As a general rule, costs are a creature of statute and may be assessed against a defendant only pursuant to express statutory authorization. 20 Am.Jur.2d; Costs § 5; see also KRS Chapter 453 relating to court costs. There is no statute which would permit a charge of costs against a defendant in a disciplinary proceeding. Therefore, the City may not recover the costs expended by it in the disciplinary proceeding.