Request By:
Mr. David E. Jansing
Kenton County Patrol
5766 Madison Pike, KY. 17
Independence, Kentucky 41051
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By: Charles W. Runyan, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
You request our opinion on the following question:
"Can a county police officer legally enforce a city ordinance, as long as the particular city is located within the boundaries of the particular county?"
The authority for establishing a county police force is found in KRS 70.540. The county police officers are given "jurisdiction coextensive with the whole county." The county police can enforce state criminal statutes, as peace officers, anywhere in the county. See KRS 446.010(24) and 431.005. They can enforce county ordinances, which prescribe penalties for their violation, throughout the entire area of the county, unless otherwise provided by statute, or the legislative body of any city within the county has adopted an ordinance on the same subject which is the same as or more stringent than the standards set forth in the county ordinance. KRS 67.083(7)(a) and (b).
It is our opinion that, in the absence of an interlocal agreement [see KRS 65.210 et seq.] and in the absence of the application of KRS 24A.140(4), [which we shall explain hereinafter], county police have no statutory authority or responsibility to enforce city ordinances.
The district court has exclusive jurisdiction to make final disposition of misdemeanor cases, generally, involving violations of county and city ordinances. KRS 24A.110.
Under KRS 24A.140, where the district court is held in county or state owned facilities, the sheriff is required to attend court, keep order, serve process, etc. If the court sessions are held in city facilities, the city police or city marshal, as appropriate, shall attend court, serve process, etc. Where the Administrative Office of the Courts determines that providing such services by any of the law enforcement officers named above would place an undue burden on such officers, the A.O.C. may "arrange [apparently permissive] with any other law enforcement officer or agency in the Commonwealth, including county police, to provide such services. KRS 24A.140(4). Thus, since the district court has exclusive jurisdiction of misdemeanor cases involving violations of city ordinances, under a substitution arrangement with A.O.C. under KRS 24A.140(4) county policemen could be required by the district court to perform law enforcement duties relating to city ordinances.
A practical consideration here is that the chief executive officer of a city is usually responsible for enforcing city ordinances. The city policemen serve under the city's chief executive, and thus implement the executive's enforcement responsibility. The county judge/executive is the chief executive of the county and is responsible for enforcing county ordinances. The county police serve under the county judge/executive, and thus implement the executive's enforcement responsibility. Those are the normal lines of ordinance enforcement responsibility.