Request By:
Michael L. Moreland, Esq.
Estill County Attorney
108 Main Street
Irvine, Kentucky 40336
Opinion
Opinion By: Frederic J. Cowan, Attorney General; Thomas R. Emerson, Assistant Attorney General
Your letter concerns fire protection services in rural areas. The proposal concerns the merger of the Estill County, Irvine and Ravenna fire departments. You ask whether such a merger is possible and under what statutory authority.
While there are statutory provisions dealing with the merger of contiguous cities [KRS 81.410 to KRS 81,440] and constitutional provisions relative to abolishing and dividing counties [Sections 63 - 65], we know of no authority for various city and county governments to simply merge their fire departments into one unit.
There is a statutory enactment, the Interlocal Cooperation Act, KRS 65.210 to KRS 65.300, which permits local governments to engage in joint or cooperative undertakings. The cities and the county could possibly utilize these provisions to more effectively and efficiently deliver fire protection services in the areas involved. See OAG 79-574 and OAG 79-309, copies of which are enclosed.
In regard to your second question, KRS Chapter 75 deals with fire protection districts and KRS 75.010(2) provides as follows:
In no event shall any fire protection district or any volunteer fire department district include within its metes and bounds any territory at that time or thereafter included in any city of this Commonwealth which maintains a 'regular fire department, ' and which has paid its proportionate share of the indebtedness incurred while such territory was a part of that district.
The phrase "regular fire department" is not defined anywhere in KRS Chapter 75. It is defined in KRS 95.010(3)(b) for purposes of certain sections of KRS Chapter 95 as "one having a fixed headquarters where firefighting apparatus and equipment are maintained, and where firefighters are in constant and uninterrupted attendance to receive and answer fire alarms." KRS Chapter 95 deals with city police and fire departments.
In OAG 69-373, copy enclosed, this office concluded that under KRS Chapter 75 a fire protection district could annex and levy a fire tax on property within a city if the city did not have a "regular fire department" within the meaning of KRS 95.010(3)(b) . See also OAG 73-662, a copy of which is enclosed.