Request By:
William J. Kathman, Jr., Esq.
20 South Main Street
Dry Ridge, Kentucky 41035
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By: Thomas R. Emerson, Assistant Attorney General
This is in reply to your letter raising a question concerning the establishment of a fire protection district pursuant to KRS Chapter 75. You refer to KRS 75.010(1) which provides in part as follows:
"A petition for the establishment of a fire protection district or a volunteer fire department district signed by at least fifty-one percent (51%) of the voters, as determined by the registration books covering the territory, and living within the boundary of the proposed fire protection district or volunteer fire department district may be filed in the county clerk's office of the county in which the greater part of the territory is located. The petition shall set out the metes and bounds of the proposed fire protection district or volunteer fire department district, the number of voters thereof, and other facts thought proper. . . ." (Emphasis supplied.)
Your specific question is whether the metes and bounds description of the proposed fire protection district must be submitted to each prospective petitioner on the original petition before that person signs the petition or whether a map showing the proposed district can be shown to each person and the metes and bounds description prepared later, after the required number of signatures have been obtained but before the petition is filed. You maintain that the initial inclusion of the metes and bounds description will not help most persons in comprehending the territory covered by the proposed district and preparing a metes and bounds description could be a useless and expensive procedure if the required number of signatures cannot be obtained.
The statute mandates that the petition set out the metes and bounds of the proposed fire district. In connection with the definition of metes and bounds we direct your attention to Lefler v. City of Dallas, Tex., 177 S.W.2d 231, 234 (1943), where the Court said:
". . . The term 'metes and bounds' as used by the Legislature was undoubtedly used in its generally accepted meaning as found in the dictionaries. Bouv. Law Dict., Rawle's Third Rev., Vol. 2, p. 2207, defines metes and bounds as follows: 'The boundary lines of land, with their terminal points and angles. ' Ballentine's Law Dictionary, p. 814, defines metes and bounds as follows: 'The boundary lines and corners of a piece of land. '. . ."
In Forrester v. Terry, Ky., 357 S.W.2d 308, 311 (1962), the Court defined the term "metes and bounds" as follows:
". . . The generally accepted meaning of that term is the boundary lines and corners of a piece of land with their terminal points and angles; Bouvier's Law Dictionary; Ballentine's Law Dictionary. We take this from 27 Words and Phrases, p. 239:
'"Metes and bounds" means the boundary line or limit of a tract, which boundary may be pointed out and ascertained by rivers and objects, either natural or artificial, which are permanent in character and erection, and so situated with reference to the tract to be described that they may be conveniently used for the purpose of indicating its extent. The metes and bounds of a tract are as definitely fixed by locating its center line and naming the width of the tract as if the lines of its true boundary had been given by acres and distances, and the description thus given would in such a case prevail over a description given by acres and distances. People v. Guthrie, 46 Ill. App. 124, 128; U.S. v. 5.324 Acres of Land, D.C. Cal., 79 F.Supp. 748, 755.'"
Since the statute requires that the petition set out the metes and bounds of the proposed fire protection district, the use of a map merely showing where the proposed district will be is not sufficient. The petition must be signed by at least fifty-one percent of the voters but what is being signed will not be a legal petition for purposes of KRS 75.010(1) unless it includes the metes and bounds of the proposed fire protection district when it is signed by the petitioners. All of the statutory requirements of the petition, described in KRS 75.010, must be satisfied when the petition is presented for the necessary signatures or the signers (even if they are sufficient in number) will not be signing a valid and properly prepared petition. The statute requires the proper number of signatures as well as a properly prepared petition for the petitioners to sign.
Thus, in response to your specific question, it is our opinion that since KRS 75.010 requires that the petition for the establishment of a fire protection district set out the metes and bounds of the proposed district, the use of a map merely showing the location of the proposed district is insufficient. Furthermore, the petition must include the metes and bounds description at the time the petition is presented to prospective petitioners for their signatures or they will not be signing a properly prepared and legally sufficient petition.