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Request By:

Mrs. Dorothy Wilson
Associate Publisher
Cave County Newspapers, Inc.
P.O. Box 546
Cave City, Kentucky 42127

Opinion

Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By: Walter C. Herdman, Assistant Deputy Attorney General

This is in response to your letter of November 3 in which you raise the following question:

"Please advise me at the earliest date possible the law in regard to carrying the city and school financial statements in the local papers."

The publication of financial statements by cities has been altered by the 1980 legislature pursuant to S.B. 18. Under this act, particularly KRS 91A.040, all cities are merely required to complete an annual audit of the city finances which must be published in summary form pursuant to KRS Chapter 424. Subsections (3) and (4) dealing with this subject read as follows:

"(3) Upon completion of an annual audit, the city shall forward two (2) copies of the audit report to the department for local government for information purposes.

"(4) Upon completion of an annual audit, the city shall publish a summary of the audit in accordance with KRS Chapter 424."

In view of the above, cities of all classes are now authorized to simply publish a summary of the annual audit required to be made of its finances thereby eliminating the detailed financial publication requirements found under KRS 424.220. See KRS 424.130(1)(a) for the time and period of publication.

City and county school districts, however, are still required to publish a detailed financial statement modified, however, by the terms of KRS 424.220, as pointed out in OAG 76-393, copy attached.

LLM Summary
In OAG 80-594, the Attorney General responds to an inquiry about the requirements for publishing city and school financial statements in local newspapers. The decision clarifies that cities are now only required to publish a summary of their annual financial audits, as per the 1980 legislative changes and KRS 91A.040. However, it notes that city and county school districts must still publish detailed financial statements, with modifications as discussed in OAG 76-393.
Disclaimer:
The Sunshine Law Library is not exhaustive and may contain errors from source documents or the import process. Nothing on this website should be taken as legal advice. It is always best to consult with primary sources and appropriate counsel before taking any action.
Type:
Opinion
Lexis Citation:
1980 Ky. AG LEXIS 66
Cites (Untracked):
  • OAG 76-393
Forward Citations:
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