Request By:
Mr. William D. Stephens
Supervisor, County Fee Systems
Department of Finance
Capitol Annex
Frankfort, Kentucky
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By: Charles W. Runyan, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
In OAG 80-317, written to you, we concluded that the sheriff, jailer and county clerk in counties with a population in excess of 75,000 are subject to the state travel regulations. See KRS 45.180 and 44.060. We said that those constitutional officers are state officers for the purpose of paying their travel expenses, since their salaries are paid out of the state treasury [see § 106, Ky. Const., and KRS 64.345].
Your specific question reads:
"My specific question now is are they subject to Section 7 (1) which provides for a maximum of $35.00 per day for a room, unless in a high rate locality, which provides § 50.00 per day for a room and $3.00 for breakfast, § 3.00 for lunch and $8.00 for dinner or are they subject to Section 7 (2) which provides for payment of actual expenses?"
Section 7 (1) of 200 KAR Chapter 2 deals with the reimbursement rates to be paid state officers and employees generally. The maximum rates are, generally, $35 per day for lodging, $3 for breakfast, $3 for lunch, and $8 for dinner.
Section 7 (2) provides for reimbursement for actual, necessary expenses of travel involving the "governor, lieutenant governor, other statewide elected constitutional officials, cabinet secretaries, the governor's staff, state employees traveling on assignment with the governor or lieutenant governor, and to authorized persons traveling outside the United States."
It is our opinion that the portion of the state travel regulation applying to the constitutional officers listed under § 106 of the Constitution and KRS 64.345 is Section 7 (1) and is not Section 7 (2), since the officers described in the latter provision, including "other statewide elected constitutional officials," do not include the county constitutional officers listed in § 106 of the Constitution. Those officers [in § 106] are not statewide elected officials. We are bound by the plain meaning of words.