Request By:
Ms. Quinn Bursack
President, Board of Directors
Kentucky Court Appointed
Special Advocate Association
116 Tanglewood Trail
Louisville, Kentucky 40223
Opinion
Opinion By: Frederic J. Cowan, Attorney General; Anne E. Keating, Assistant Attorney General
In a letter to this office you have requested an opinion on the role of court appointed special advocates. In particular, you ask whether court appointed special advocates may be appointed by the circuit court in cases initiated in district court.
Effective July 13, 1990, the General Assembly passed KRS 620.500-550 authorizing the appointment of special advocates by the district court judges of each judicial district. Effective July 15, 1986, the General Assembly passed KRS 421.500(2) authorizing appointment of special advocates by circuit court judges in certain kinds of cases. KRS 620.505 states in part:
(1) For the purpose of providing an independent, efficient, and thorough representation for children who enter the court system as a result of dependency, abuse, and neglect, there may be established a court appointed special advocate project by the chief district judge within each judicial district .
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(8) Volunteers shall be appointed by the presiding judge to represent the best interest of the child, after the volunteer has been screened, trained, and certified by the project director.
(Emphasis added.) Moreover, KRS 620.520(1) states:
The District Court clerks shall notify and provide a copy of all dependency, abuse and neglect petitions to the project director, as soon as the court makes a referral to the project director.
This language indicates that the referral is made by the district judge. In addition, KRS 620.525(2)(i) sets forth the duties of the volunteer and states that the volunteer shall:
Remain actively involved in the case until the case is resolved or until dismissed by the project director or district judge . . . .
(Emphasis added.)
You point out in your letter that at this time CASA projects in Kentucky have been initiated only in district courts. However, representation of children may also be needed in circuit court when an action for termination of parental rights is filed. Recently, you stated, an experienced volunteer was denied access to records of the Cabinet for Human Resources because the case was set for termination of parental rights in circuit court.
While Chapter 620.500-550 on court appointed special advocates is defined in terms of activity in district courts,
KRS 421.500 sets forth duties of public officers and agencies to victims of crimes. "Victim" is defined by KRS 421.500(1) as:
an individual who suffers direct or threatened physical, financial, or emotional harm as a result of the commission of a crime classified as criminal homicide, robbery, rape, assault, sodomy, kidnapping, burglary in the first or second degree, sexual abuse, wanton endangerment, criminal abuse, or incest. If the victim is a minor or legally incapacitated, 'victim' means a parent, guardian, custodian or court-appointed special advocate . . . .
This definition of "victim" clearly includes minors who are the victims of criminal abuse or neglect. KRS 421.500(2) authorizes the appointment of a special advocate to represent the interests of the victim and to exercise those rights provided for by statute to ensure a speedy trial or to provide an impact statement on behalf of the victim:
If any court believes that the health, safety, or welfare of a victim who is a minor or is legally incapacitated would not otherwise adequately be protected, the court may appoint a special advocate to represent the interest of the victim and to exercise those rights provided for by KRS 421.510 to 421.540. Communication between the victim and the special advocate shall be privileged.
(Emphasis added.)
This statute provides, in addition, that victims, including court appointed special advocates, are to receive prompt notification of all judicial proceedings and other pertinent information on their case; they are to have an opportunity to make an impact statement for consideration by the court at the time of sentencing of the defendant. KRS 421.500(5)(b). The victim is also to be consulted by the attorney for the Commonwealth on disposition of the case. KRS 421.500(6).
Clearly, KRS 421.500 authorizes appointment of special advocates by the circuit court which has jurisdiction over serious crimes. The input of advocates is particularly important in supplying a victim impact statement at the point that the defendant has been convicted. KRS 421.520. Under that statute the victim, including the court appointed special advocate, may submit a statement upon conviction of the defendant to the probation officer who prepares a presentence investigation report for the court.
In summary, court appointed special advocates may be appointed either by the district court under the CASA projects authorized by KRS 620.500-550 or by the circuit court under the authorization of KRS 421.500(2).