Request By:
Mr. Terry O. McKinney
Lyon County Judge Executive
P.O. Box 698
Eddyville, Kentucky 42038
Opinion
Opinion By: David L. Armstrong, Attorney General; By: Charles W. Runyan, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
You have requested the opinion of this office on questions relating to the county treasurer, who, you say, is pregnant and left her office on December 17, 1984.
Question No. 1:
"Can a county treasurer remove county records and office equipment from her office to another location? (her home or hospital)."
The county treasurer is appointed by the fiscal court to serve the county and the fiscal court essentially in connection with the receipt and disbursement of county funds. KRS 68.010. The duties of the treasurer are spelled out in KRS 68.020. The treasurer's disbursement must follow the authority of the fiscal court. All warrants for payment of county funds must be co-signed by the county treasurer and the county judge executive.
The county treasurer is required by KRS 68.020(4) to keep an accurate detailed account of all money received and disbursed by the treasurer for the county, and shall keep books of account of the financial transactions of the county in the manner required by the uniform system of accounting prescribed by the State Local Finance Officer.
Such records are county records, which must be maintained in a public office, and which location is convenient in the county treasurer's integrating the treasurer's function with that of the county judge executive and fiscal court. There is no statutory or rational basis for the treasurer's withdrawing such county records to a private location, such as the treasurer's home or a hospital. While a constitutional democracy has a tremendous flexibility, and individualism approaches a sacredness, sheer political experience indicates a need for a certain discipline and order. Note the fiscal court's central role in regulating and controlling the fiscal affairs of the county, with appropriate accounting procedures, pursuant to KRS 67.080(1)(c), which could include a determination of the precise location of the office of the county treasurer. Also see KRS 67.080(2)(b) and KRS 67.083(3)(p), as to the fiscal court's operation of county buildings. Under current statutes the fiscal court has a responsibility to furnish the county treasurer with a suitable office, with adequate equipment, in order that the treasurer may carry out his (or her) function. See Todd County Fiscal Court v. Frey, Ky., 285 S.W.2d 499 (1956) 500. There is no statutory authority for the treasurer's files and records being taken out of the office.
Question No. 2:
"Can a county treasurer operate her daily office duties from a place other than the county treasurer's office? (her home or hospital)."
The answer is "no", for reasons given under Question No. 1. The county treasurer's office is a public office. A government cannot be operated out of a home, private residence, or a hospital.
Question No. 3:
"What is the alternative if the county treasurer cannot report to work for the normal work week?"
If the county treasurer is physically unable to perform her statutory duties, the fiscal court may designate some county employee, or one hired temporarily for this purpose, to perform the treasurer's duties, until such time when the fiscal court can conduct a hearing, pursuant to KRS 68.010(4), on the question as to whether there is any applicable ground for removal from office. This authority to designate a person to perform temporarily the treasurer's functions is found in KRS 67.080(1)(c), which gives the fiscal court the authority to regulate and control the fiscal affairs of the county. KRS 67.083(3) provides that the fiscal court shall have the power to carry out governmental functions necessary for the operation of the county. The treasurer cannot be removed from office, except for neglect of duty, incompetency, or dishonesty, as prescribed in KRS 68.010(4). Such removal can only be for legal cause. Stanley v. Fiscal Court of Hopkins County, 189 Ky. 390, 224 S.W. 1081 (1920); and Lyon v. Bell, 275 Ky. 69, 120 S.W.2d 752 (1938) 756. Due process requires that the determination of the existence or nonexistence of such legal ground or grounds for removal be made only after a proper hearing before the fiscal court, with adequate notice to the treasurer. See § 2, Kentucky Constitution, and Pritchett v. Marshall, Ky., 375 S.W.2d 253 (1963).
Question No. 4:
"How can the county judge/executive and the fiscal court maintain a proper financial management if the county treasurer is not in the county treasurer's office during normal business hours?"
We have answered that under Question No. 3.
Question No. 5:
"Would it be proper for the fiscal court to request the county treasurer to terminate the position if unable to function out of the county treasurer's office?"
Under Question No. 3, we pointed out that the treasurer can only be removed for one of the legal causes stated in KRS 68.010(4), i.e., neglect of duty, incompetency or dishonesty.
It would finally be up to the courts to determine whether or not the total circumstances warrant her discharge for cause.