Request By:
Mr. Troy Hampton
Knox County Court Clerk
Barbourville, Kentucky 40906
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By Alex W. Rose, Assistant Attorney General
In your letter to the Attorney General you ask whether the incoming county attorney or the outgoing county attorney is entitled to the fee for the collection of delinquent taxes pursuant to KRS 134.500.
If the taxes are actually collected during the term of the incoming county attorney, then he is entitled to the fee. In OAG 70-240 this same principle was applied to incoming and out-going sheriffs, a situation analogous to this one. Also, in Martin v. Taylor, 297 Ky. 72, 1978 S.W.2d 949 (1944), the court held that the commissions on delinquent taxes belong to the office of county attorney. KRS 134.500(3) provides that if more than one county attorney renders necessary services in an effort to collect a tax claim, the attorney serving the last notice or rendering the last substantial service preceding collection is entitled to the commission on the amount collected.
KRS 134.500(3) appears to be in conflict with the principle stated in Martin v. Taylor, supra. The statute should be interpreted, however, to conform to the case so that the incumbent county attorney is entitled to the commissions.