Request By:
Mr. Kendall Robinson
County Attorney
P.O. Box 34
Booneville, Kentucky 41314
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; Carl Miller, Assistant Attorney General
You have requested an opinion of the Attorney General as to whether a county can legally construct a bridge across a creek for the benefit of one or two property owners and provided that the owner or owners of the property upon which the bridge is built convey the necessary land to the county by a right of way deed.
It is our opinion that this is not legally permissible. The convenience of one person does not authorize the establishment of a county road.
Fletcher v. Fugate, 26 Ky. 631 (1830).
The construction of a bridge by the county is only warranted when the bridge is part of a county road and it is not legally permissible to construct a bridge which goes from private land to private land.
The statutory procedure for establishing a new county road is set forth in KRS 178.080. One of the prerequisites is that it must appear to the county court that the interest of the general public will be furthered by the establishment of the road.
Section 3 of the Constitution of Kentucky provides in part as follows:
"All men, when they form a social compact, are equal; and no grant of exclusive, separate public emoluments or privileges shall be made to any man or set of men, except in consideration of public services; . . ."
This section of the Constitution would be violated if the County Court constructed a bridge to serve only one individual and not be of service to the general public.