Request By:
Mr. Ed L. Tillie
Director
Administrative Services
Kentucky River District Health Department
825 High Street
Hazard, Kentucky 41701
Opinion
Opinion By: David L. Armstrong, Attorney General; By: Charles W. Runyan, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
You have written that in October, 1981, the Leslie County Fiscal Court voted unanimously to have the Leslie County Health Department become a part of the Kentucky River District Health Department.
You also wrote that House Bill 325 and Senate Bill 161, of the 1982 Session, altered the composition of the District Board of Health.
Recently, the Leslie County Board of Health raised the following questions concerning the interpretation of those two pieces of legislation:
"1) Does each county participating in a District Health Department have right to representation on the District Board, from each of the following:
a. fiscal court of each county
b. county Board of Health of each county
c. county medical society
d. county dental society
e. district nursing association
f. veterinarians
"2) Does every single county Board of Health necessarily have representation on the District Board, and if so, can the county judge executive (by virtue of his elected seat) be that representative?"
We assume you refer to a district health department created by several counties, pursuant to KRS 212.840 and KRS 212.850.
Your first question concerns whether each county participating in the District Health Department is entitled to representation on the District Board of Health from each of the six categories listed above.
Under KRS 212.855(1), your District Board of Health consists of the county judge executive, or his designee, from each county in the district as an ex officio voting member, and one (1) additional resident member per county per 15,000 population or fraction thereof.
All members of the Board, except for the county judge executives (or their designees) and the mayors of second class cities (of any participating county), shall be appointed by the Secretary for Human Resources from lists submitted to him upon his request by the fiscal courts of each county in the district. KRS 212.855(2) outlines the circumstances under which the lists are submitted by the fiscal court, county judge executive, of participating counties, or compiled by the Secretary of the Human Resources Cabinet.
Pursuant to KRS 212.855(2) (a), the list of nominations submitted to the Secretary shall include two (2) nominations from each of the following:
1. The fiscal court of each county;
2. The County Board of Health of each county;
3. The county medical society;
4. The county dental society;
5. The district nursing association;
6. Veterinarians from the county, when available.
However, you must keep in mind that the immediately preceding list is to constitute only nominees for the Board appointments. The actual representation on the District Board from each county, other than the county judge executive, or his designee, and mayor of second class cities, if any, will consist simply of one (1) additional resident member for each 15,000 population or fraction thereof. Also note the restrictions as to membership in KRS 212.855(2)(b).
Thus each county is not entitled to a board member from each of the six (6) categories listed above. The selection for board membership from each county can never rise above the one (1) additional resident member per county per 15,000 population or fraction thereof. The plain meaning of KRS 212.855(1)(b) must be observed.
Bailey v. Reeves, Ky., 662 S.W.2d 832 (1984) 834.
In answer to your second question, the county judge executive, or his designee, of each participating county is automatically a member of the District Board of Health. KRS 212.855(1)(a). The county judge executive is automatically a member of the County Board of Health. KRS 212.020. The county judge executive does not have to be a member of the district board of health, since the statute provides expressly for his designee, as an option. KRS 212.855(1)(a). And as we said above, the list for nominations under subsection (2) (a) was not intended to guarantee a county representative from each of the six (6) categories listed, including the County Board of Health.
The answer to Question No. 2 is that each county is not guaranteed a representative from the County Board of Health. In a county in which the county judge executive decides to be the ex officio member, then representation from the County Board of Health is assured.