Request By:
Hon. Harvey G. Ershig
Judge, Henderson District Court
County Courthouse
Henderson, Kentucky 42420
Opinion
Opinion By: Frederic J. Cowan, Attorney General; Ross T. Carter, Assistant Attorney General
You have asked whether a user fee may be imposed on juvenile offenders or their parents or custodians when the offenders are assigned to community service under the provisions of KRS 635.080.
KRS 635.080 is part of the Kentucky Unified Juvenile Code, which deals comprehensively with the protection, care, punishment, and rehabilitation of children. In the few provisions dealing with the payment of fees, the Code is quite specific. The fee provisions include KRS 605.120, which allows the corrections cabinet, governmental units, and private or public agencies to make payments to foster homes or boarding homes; KRS 610.170, which allows a court to order parents or custodians to pay for the support, maintenance, or education of a child; and KRS 610.350, which prohibits imposition of court fees against a party but allows the county or state to pay for service of process, witness fees, and transportation costs.
We find nothing in the Code that would authorize imposition of user fees for participation in court-ordered community service. On the contrary, such fees are prohibited by KRS 610.350(1), which says, "In proceedings in the juvenile session of the district court, no court fees shall be charged against, and no witness fees shall be allowed to, any party to a petition." We therefore conclude that the Code does not permit the imposition of user fees.