Request By:
Ms. Dora N. Henry
Estill County Clerk
Irvine, Kentucky 40336
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; Elizabeth E. Blackford, Assistant Attorney General
You have written to ask whether the Fiscal Court must pay the County Clerk recording fees for services performed by the Clerk in recording various items and documents concerning county business. Your question has arisen because one agency has informed you that the County should not be charged, while another has said the County is to be charged.
Specifically, you asked whether and how much the County must pay to the Clerk for the following services:
(1) making out the monthly lists of all conveyances of real property made in the County during the month. This list is to be given to the Property Valuation Administrator pursuant to KRS 132.480 each month;
Answer: KRS 132.480 states that the Fiscal Court is to grant the County Clerk a reasonable compensation for this service. While the County must pay the Clerk for making up and delivering the lists, the amount of the compensation is not set out in the statutes, but rather, is to be determined by the Fiscal Court.
(2) in voter registrations, making an original registration, and services rendered in relation to purging registration;
Answer: Pursuant to KRS 116.105(2) the County is to pay the Clerk $ .15 for each person registered and $ .10 for each name cancelled or ordered to be purged from the rolls.
(3) for recording exonerations and the orders of the County Judge/Executive correcting erroneous assessments or correcting delinquent assessments;
Answer: This question has been answered in OAG 80-56, copy enclosed.
(4) for recording Court orders concerning County business;
Answer: It is unclear whether you are referring to services performed in recording orders of the Fiscal Court, or to services performed in recording the executive orders entered by the County Judge/Executive. However, both sorts of "court" orders must be recorded and retained in the Clerk's office in the appropriate book, and the fee established for both is $5.00 for the first three pages, and $1.50 for each page thereafter. The County shall pay this fee. KRS 64.012.
(5) for recording the monthly report of the Sheriff concerning tax collections in the Court order book. The report must be made and recorded on a monthly basis pursuant to KRS 134.300;
Answer: Again, pursuant to KRS 64.012 the Clerk shall be paid, by the County, $5.00 for the first three pages of the document and $1.50 for each page thereafter.
(6) for recording deeds for the County;
Answer: KRS 64.015(2) specifically provides that the County shall pay the Clerk the fees established by KRS 64.012 for taking acknowledgments, certifying and recording deeds conveying right-of-ways to be used in the County road system.
As to all other deeds for the County, the Clerk shall be paid the appropriate fees which are set out in KRS 64.012 because there is no statute which exempts the County from liability to the Clerk for fees incurred in recording deeds for the County.
(7) any other documents concerning County business which must be recorded or filed in the Clerk's office;
Answer: Because of the multitude of items which might be included within the scope of this question, and because the provisions for paying the Clerk a fee may differ as to certain documents, this office cannot answer this question other than to say that on a general basis the County must pay the Clerk whatever fee has been set for the recording or filing of the particular document in question since there is no general statute exempting the County from paying such fees.
Should you have any further questions, please feel free to inquire.