Request By:
Mr. Dale Wright
Anderson County Attorney
Main and Court Place
Lawrenceburg, Kentucky 40342
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By: Charles W. Runyan, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
KRS 24A.175(5) provides that the circuit clerk shall, at the time fines and costs are paid over to the state, pay five dollars ($5.00) from each court cost collected pursuant to subsection (1) to the county treasurer for use by the fiscal court for the sole purpose of defraying the costs of operation of the county jail.
The Anderson County jail is in the Courthouse. The jailer's living quarters are above the jail and are in the Courthouse. Her fees are not sufficient to fund a matron or deputy. The fiscal court would be willing to fund a matron, at a minimum wage for 20 hours per week or more if they can use the money accruing from KRS 24A.175(5).
Your question is whether the fiscal court can use the money coming from KRS 24A.175(5) to fund or partially fund the jail matron?
The statute provides that the money going to the counties is for the sole purpose of defraying the costs of operation of the county jail.
Our answer is that such money may be spent to fund or partially fund the salary of a jail matron, which is properly a part of the costs of operating a county jail. Of course this is subject to proper budgeting procedure under KRS Chapter 68.
Under the ordinary meaning of "costs of operation of the county jail" , we think it is so broad as to include the salary of a jail matron. The statute does not restrict the money to capital or capital improvement costs. See