Request By:
Mr. Edward D. Hays
Counsel for City of Danville
111 South Fourth Street
Danville, Kentucky 40422
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By: Charles W. Runyan, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
The City of Danville [3rd class city], for which you are Counsel, wishes to enact an ordinance providing that arrest fees [involving state statute violation cases, we assume], earned and collected by the city policemen, be paid into the city treasury.
Your question is whether the ordinance can make a provision as to arrest fees for city policemen and direct that such fees be paid into the city treasury.
In OAG 79-545 we concluded that such action could be taken by a city of the fourth class, citing KRS 64.090 and 95.740(1) and (2) as the authority.
You say you can find no authority similar to KRS 95.740.
City policemen in cities of the third class are already peace officers of the city and state, with the same powers to make arrests, within their geographical jurisdiction, execute process and enforce the laws, as sheriffs. KRS 95.510 and 64.090. Also see KRS 446.010(24) ["peace officer" includes city policemen] and KRS 431.005 [arrests by peace officers] .
Section 7 of S.B. 26, Ch. 235 [1980 session] creates a new section in KRS Chapter 83A. The section relates to all cities. Section 7(4) reads: "All fees and commissions authorized by law shall be paid into the city treasury for the benefit of the city and shall not be retained by any officer or employe."
The answer to your question is that arrest fees for city policemen in cities of any class, involving violations of state statutes, are already provided by statutes, as pointed out above. Further, the payment of such earned fees is already required by statute [S.B. 26, 1980, Section 7, effective July 15, 1980] to be paid into the city treasury for the benefit of the city only. See OAG 79-545 concerning the collection of such fees by the policemen. In this statutory situation there is no need for a city ordinance.
While S.B. 26 [1980] did not repeal KRS 95.740 [relating to 4th and 5th class cities], the language of Section 7(4), S.B. 26, "All fees and commissions authorized by law shall be paid into the city treasury for the benefit of the city and shall not be retained by any officer or employe", clearly suggests that all cities in Kentucky have no option on this. Payment of such fees into the city treasury is mandatory. Therefore, KRS 95.740, which made it permissive for cities of the fourth and fifth classes to direct such fees into the city treasury, was repealed by implication. This is of S.B. 26 [1980] provides that the legislative body of each city shall fix the compensation of each appointed officer. See