Request By:
Mr. Edward C. Keeton, Jr.
Attorney at Law
P.O. Box 336
West Liberty, Kentucky 41472
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By: Charles W. Runyan, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
The Morgan County Ambulance Service District was created in 1982, pursuant to KRS 108.105. You have written that the Morgan County Ambulance Service District is in grave financial difficulties, partly because of the inability of the district to collect out-of-county accounts.
The District Board of Directors on August 10, 1983, directed the manager of the ambulance service to cease transferring any patients from the Morgan County Appalachian Regional Hospital (located in Morgan County, Kentucky) to any other point unless that patient was a Morgan County resident or the patient's medical condition arose while within the territorial limits of Morgan County, Kentucky. The practice has been that ambulance services from adjoining counties would bring into the Morgan County Appalachian Hospital for medical care patients who are nonresidents of Morgan County. When such patients had to be transferred to other medical facilities, the Morgan County Ambulance Service would transport those patients to various other area hospitals outside of Morgan County, be they Morehead or Lexington. However, the Morgan County Ambulance Service has had problems collecting these accounts. The Morgan County Ambulance District Board feels that the people who brought the nonresident patients into the Morgan County Hospital should take them back or to other medical facilities, where that determination is made. Otherwise, the lack of an orderly or timely collection of such debts is presenting a grave financial problem to the ambulance district.
The question was stated by you as follows:
"The basic question under the above factual situation is whether or not the Board's act of August 10th restricting the transfer of patients to Morgan County patients or patients whose medical problems arose in Morgan County is legal and whether or not the Board is under any legal obligation to provide ambulance service for all patients of the A.R. Hospital and what violations of any statutes or law or any liability created by the Board as a result of their acts."
KRS 108.090 reads:
"For the purpose of enabling cities or counties, or parts thereof, to provide emergency ambulance service to assure public safety and welfare the general assembly does hereby allow all of the territory coterminous with the boundaries of a city or county, or coterminous with the boundaries of two (2) or more cities or counties contiguous to each other, to be organized into an emergency ambulance service district for the purpose of financing and administering emergency ambulance service for the residents of the district, and further does hereby allow an unincorporated area within a county that is contiguous with the boundaries of an existing ambulance district within that county to become part of that ambulance service district."
Thus KRS 108.090 permits the adjoining or coterminal counties in relation to a particular county to form an emergency ambulance service district for the purpose of "financing and administering emergency ambulance service for the residents of the district." (Emphasis added). We assume that the Morgan County Ambulance Service District embraces only territory within Morgan County. The ambulance district is a political subdivision, i.e., a taxing district. Under KRS 108.105 a district ad valorem tax is imposed upon property located only in the district, i.e., in Morgan County.
KRS 108.140, relating to the powers of the district board, reads in part:
"The board of directors shall provide ambulance service to inhabitants of the district . . . ." (Emphasis added).
KRS 108.140(9) provides that the ambulance district board has the authority to contract with private persons, partnerships, or corporations for providing ambulance service to residents of the district. . . ." (Emphasis added). The district board has the authority under KRS 108.140(3) to adopt rules and regulations necessary to effectively and efficiently provide "emergency ambulance service for the district." (Emphasis added). Thus the concept of "ambulance service for residents of the district" is clear and unambiguous.
In reading the above statutes together, it is our opinion that the Board of Directors of the Ambulance District is required to provide ambulance service only to the inhabitants or residents of the district. It is obvious under the literal language that the district is designed to serve only the residents of that special taxing district. The statutes in this respect are not ambiguous; and thus there is no need to resort to a rule of construction. Duvall v. Garrett, Ky., 457 S.W.2d 263 (1970). See also Department of Revenue v. Greyhound Corp., Ky., 321 S.W.2d 60 (1959).
The answer to your question is that the district board is required to provide ambulance service only for inhabitants of the district (inhabitants of Morgan County). KRS 108.140, in its introductory sentence, clearly restricts such service to inhabitants of the district. That part of the district board's action relating to the district's transferring patients from the Morgan County Hospital to other medical facilities, which patients' medical condition arose while within Morgan County and which patients were not residents of Morgan County, appears to go beyond the express and explicit powers of the board, and thus would constitute a violation of KRS 108.140.