Request By:
Ms. Lois Renfro Morris, Esq.
Attorney at Law
Appalachian Research and Defense Fund of Kentucky, Inc.
460 Court Square
Barbourville, Kentucky 40906
Opinion
Opinion By: Frederic J. Cowan, Attorney General; Gerard R. Gerhard, Assistant Attorney General
Re: County Attorney's Role Concerning Obtaining Guardinaship for Disabled Person. AGO Corr. No. 91-(O)-1767.
By letter of November 18, 1991, you ask, in substance, whether county attorneys are required to act as counsel for a person who cannot afford counsel and who seeks appointment of a guardian (or conservator) for a disabled person in accordance with KRS 387.500.
You indicate your agency has taken the position that the county attorney is supposed to take care of such matters in connection with an individual who is unable to afford a private attorney.
In our view, a county attorney is not required to provide comprehensive legal services to one seeking appointment of a guardian or conservator for a disabled person. Discussion follows.
Appointment of a guardian for a disabled person involves several steps. A petition for a determination of total or partial disability, and appointment of either a guardian or conservator, or limited guardian or conservator, must be prepared and filed (KRS 387.530), an interdisciplinary evaluation report (KRS 387.540) must be obtained, a hearing must be scheduled and conducted (KRS 387.550, KRS 387.570), and other tasks common to such a procedure must be carried out.
The statutorily specified role of a county attorney in connection with a petition for appointment of a guardian or conservator for a disabled person is stated by KRS 387.560(3) in the following terms:
In all proceedings under KRS 387.500 to 387.770, it shall be the duty of the county attorney to assist the petitioner, to represent the interest of the Commonwealth, and to assist the court in its inquiry by the presentation of evidence .
(Emphasis added.)
The language cited does not require a county attorney to prepare a petition for a determination of total or partial disability, or direct a county attorney to act as counsel for one who seeks appointment of a guardian or conservator. A county attorney's statutorily mandated role is to represent the interest of the Commonwealth, and assist a petitioner and the court, by presentation of evidence in proceedings bearing upon the appointment of a guardian or conservator under KRS 387.500 to 387.770.
Given the language of KRS 387.560(3), in our view, a county attorney is not required to provide comprehensive legal assistance to one without means attempting to obtain appointment of a guardian or conservator for another. Cf., OAG's 83-419, 83-474, and 87-72 (copies enclosed). It follows that there is a role for private counsel in such regard.