Request By:
Mr. William D. Stephens
Supervisor
County Fee Systems
Finance and Administration Cabinet
Division of County and Municipal Accounting
Capitol Annex
Frankfort, Kentucky 40601
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By: Charles W. Runyan, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
The request for opinion contains two questions, one relating to sequestered jurors, the other relating to compensation of sheriffs for attending court:
Question No. 1:
"When so ordered by the sequestering judge, may the Department for Administration make direct payments to the providing vendors? "
KRS 29A.180(1) reads:
(1) The sheriff, city police or city marshal, as appropriate, shall be responsible for meals, housing, and other incidental needs of grand jurors and petit jurors in circuit court and in district court when the jurors are kept overnight or otherwise sequestered when ordered to do so by the judge of the court for which the jurors were summoned. The expenses for such services shall be borne by the executive department for finance and administration and such officer shall be reimbursed in accordance with regulations issued by the executive department for finance and administration.
Where jurors are ordered sequestered by the court, under KRS 29A.180, in connection with housing and meals, and other incidental needs, the sheriff, or officer designated must initially pay such expenses, since the statute says "such officer shall be reimbursed. " (Emphasis added). Then later the Department for Finance and Administration is required to reimburse for those documented expenses. A similar provision is found in subsection (2), relating to necessary transportation expenses for sequestered jurors in criminal cases. Subsection (3) contains similar provisions in connection with the officer's furnishing specialized security personnel and equipment.
In answer to question no. 1, it is our opinion that the court has no statutory authority to direct that the Department for Administration make direct payments to the providing vendors. Here the literal meaning of the statute must be observed. Department of Revenue v. Greyhound Corp., Ky., 321 S.W.2d 60 (1959). A copy of the court order authorizing the sequestering of jurors should be made available to your office, pursuant to KRS 29A.180(1). KRS 44.020 (claims allowed by courts) is not involved.
Question No. 2:
"Please answer the following question relating to court attendance (KRS 64.348):
"When so ordered by the appropriate judge, may the Department for Administration make direct payment to a sheriff's deputy for attending court? Presently payments for deputy court attendance are considered fees of the sheriff's office. The sheriff, in turn, pays the deputy his salary. "
KRS 64.348 was renumbered as KRS 64.092. That statute deals with the details of the compensation of sheriffs, deputy sheriffs, etc., for attending court. The details include which judge certifies the time spent in court by the officer involved and the compensation rate. The statute is silent as to who pays the fees. The strongest implication is that the payment is a responsibility of the state, for whom the services are rendered. Thus KRS 44.020 applies. That statute relates to claims, including fees, allowed by courts. The subject claims are payable out of the state treasury, through the state department for Finance.
In answer to question no. 2, it is our opinion that the affected court has no authority to direct the Department for Finance and Administration to make direct payments for deputy sheriff court attendance to the deputy sheriff so attending court. Such fees are in legal reality the fees of the sheriff's office. Thus the payments should go directly to the sheriff. The sheriff is required to pay his deputies a salary, as set by the fiscal court. See KRS 70.030 and 64.530. See Funk v. Milliken, Ky., 317 S.W.2d 499 (1958); and Stokely v. Fleming County Fiscal Court, Ky., 323 S.W.2d 844 (1959).