Request By:
Mr. James S. Secrest
Allen County Attorney
P.O. Box 35
Scottsville, Kentucky 42164
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By: Charles W. Runyan, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
In 1976 the City of Scottsville [4th class city] by ordinance provided that, since the chief of police and other members of the police department are paid by salary, all fees allowed by law to such policemen shall be paid into the city treasury. Such ordinance was authorized specifically by KRS 95.740(2). We concluded in OAG 78-109 that arrest fees earned by Scottsville policemen would be paid into the city treasury under the above mentioned statute and ordinance.
Your question reads:
"If the policemen serve subpoenas from the District Court, would not the fees they receive for this service also be paid into the City Treasury? "
Under KRS 95.740(2) the chief of police and other members of the police force shall be entitled to the same fees that are allowed by law to sheriffs and other officers for similar services. The sheriff's fee for serving subpoenas for district court is covered in KRS 24A.140 [same rates as for similar services in circuit court] and KRS 64.095 [mileage allowance to officers serving subpeonas etc.].
The answer to your question is that the allowance paid to the city policemen for serving subpoenas should, under KRS 95.740 and the ordinance, be turned over to the city treasury, if the policemen are serving subpoenas in city owned vehicles. KRS 64.095 merely provides a reimbursement for "expenses" in serving such papers, i.e., the expense of operating the vehicle used. It is not a fee or "compensation" in the sense used in KRS 95.740.