Request By:
Mr. Gerald S. Holstein, Clerk
Boyd County Road Dept.
Route 4, Box 550
Ashland, Kentucky 41101
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By: Charles W. Runyan, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
Your letter refers to the practice of the Boyd County Fiscal Court in voting on the payroll checks of the County Road Department each time they are issued. This has created a hardship where a quorum of fiscal court is not present and the voting on particular payroll checks is delayed until another meeting of fiscal court.
You ask what is the correct procedure on such checks.
Under § 144 of the Kentucky Constitution, a majority of the members of the fiscal court shall constitute a court for the transaction of business (quorum) . See Cook v. Fihe, Ky., 358 S.W.2d 350 (1962). See also KRS 67.040.
The fiscal court is in charge of county finances and personnel. KRS 67.080(1)(c) and (2)(a) and 67.083.
It is our opinion that in paying the salaries of county road personnel the fiscal court may: (1) approve each set of payroll checks issued by a formal order or simple resolution by majority vote at a proper meeting of the fiscal court; or (2) establish, by way of an ordinance (see KRS 67.075 et seq.) the rule that subject to named requirements, such as work time reports, etc., the County Road Department payroll checks will be issued at certain intervals, for work actually performed, under the supervision of the county judge/executive, without any other formal order or resolution of the fiscal court, and subject to the availability of budgeted funds. See KRS 68.005, 68.020 and 68.300. See also Noble v. Combs, 273 Ky. 578, 117 S.W.2d 579 (1938).
The point is that a fiscal court can establish a salary schedule for the County Road Department employees by ordinance, and such salaries may be paid, after the work is performed at intervals, under the ordinance, without further legislative act, until and unless a change in the salary schedule is effected. Robinson v. Elliott County Fiscal Court, 236 Ky. 63, 32 S.W.2d 554 (1930) 555; and Hasty v. Shepherd, Ky. App., 620 S.W.2d 325 (1981).