Request By:
Mr. C. "Ollie" Robinson
Floyd County Clerk
Floyd County Courthouse
Prestonsburg, Kentucky 41653
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; Walter C. Herdman, Asst. Deputy Attorney General
This is in answer to your letter of September 23 in which you relate that the county is in the process of reapportioning three magisterial districts. At the same time the state legislature, in redistricting legislative districts at the last session, placed Floyd County in the 92nd district by designating certain named precincts which we will not reiterate. All of these precincts are located in magisterial district #2. There are other precincts mentioned that are located in magisterial district #1. Another precinct which is also in magisterial district #2 has been placed in the 95th legislative district. Under the circumstances you raise the following question.
"My question is, since we have to reapportion are we allowed to bring precincts from other legislative districts to the 95th legislative district? "
Our response to the above question would be in the negative in view of the enactment of KRS 117.058 at the 1982 legislative session which reads as follows:
"The county board of elections shall not add to, delete or change the boundary of legislative and senatorial districts identified by precinct name, number or ward, without legislative approval to redefine the district involved."
You will note that the above statute clearly prohibits county board of elections from changing in effect the boundary of any legislative or senatorial district where the district is identified by a precinct name, number or ward, without legislative approval to redefine the legislative district. This would prohibit the county board from changing one of the named and numbered precincts mentioned above from, for example, the 92nd district to the 95th district which would in effect change the legislative boundary line in violation of KRS 117.058.