Request By:
Hon. Robert A. Miller
Meade County Attorney
Meade County Courthouse
Brandenburg, Kentucky 40108
Opinion
Opinion By: CHRIS GORMAN, ATTORNEY GENERAL; Gerard R. Gerhard, Assistant Attorney General
You ask whether the Meade County Fiscal Court has the authority to establish speed limits on private streets and roads in the Doe Valley Subdivision, and whether Kentucky state law establishes automatic speed limits on such streets and roads which police may enter upon for enforcement purposes (to issue citations for violations).
In our view, if the roads or streets of the Doe Valley subdivision, although privately owned, are subject to public access, so as to be "public roads" within the meaning of KRS 189.010(3), applicable speed limit provisions of KRS 189.390 would apply to them, and could be enforced upon them by law enforcement officers. Additionally, we believe the Meade Fiscal Court, could, in the exercise of its police power, and in view of specific provisions of the statutes, provide, by proper ordinance, for speed limits on privately owned subdivision streets generally (though not solely in relation to Doe Valley subdivision), which are used by the public. Discussion follows.
You indicate that Doe Valley, Inc., a corporation and owner of roads in the Doe Valley Subdivision, in Meade County, has asked that the Meade Fiscal Court establish speed limits for streets and roads in the subdivision. Doe Valley, you indicate, in making its request, referred to Kentucky Revised Statutes (KRS) 189.390. You note that confusion in this matter appears to stem from the fact that while there is a definition for the term "state highway, " in that provision, there is no definition in that particular statute for the word "highway. " You further indicate that there are a great number of streets and roads in the subdivision which are improved with residences, and that a letter from the president of Doe Valley, Inc., stated that the roads are normally used by school buses and the U.S. Postal Service.
First, while there is no definition of "highway" in KRS 189.390, there is a definition of that term in KRS 189.010, which establishes definitions of terms used in KRS Chapter 189. KRS 189.010(3) provides:
'Highway' means any public road, street, avenue, alley or boulevard, bridge, viaduct, or trestle and the approaches to them and includes offstreet parking facilities offered for public use, whether publicly or privately owned , except for-hire parking facilities listed in KRS 189.700.
(Emphasis added.)
It follows that if the roads of the Doe Valley subdivision are offered for public use, they would, in all likelihood, be "public roads" within the meaning of KRS 189.010(3), such that law enforcement officers could enforce upon them, applicable speed limit provisions in KRS 189.390. Cf ., OAG 92-36, copy enclosed.
Your letter does not provide detailed facts that would have to be evaluated to provide a reliable view regarding whether the roads of Doe Valley subdivision would be considered "public roads" for purposes of KRS 189.390. If visitors may enter the subdivision relatively at will, and if, as pointed out, school buses and postal vehicles use the roadways of the subdivision, it might be argued, together with other facts, that the subdivision roads are "public roads" within the meaning of KRS 189.010(3), and thus fall within the definition of a "highway" for purposes of KRS Chapter 189 enforcement. The question might ultimately have to be decided by the courts.
If the roads within the Doe Valley subdivision are determined to be "public roads" within the meaning of KRS 189.010(3), it would follow that speed limits set in KRS 189.390, would automatically apply. Further, if such roads are in fact "public roads," at least for purposes of vehicular access by the public, it also follows that police could enter upon such roads for general enforcement purposes. Whether law enforcement officers are allowed routine access to such roads would be a factor in considering whether the roads in question were "public" for purposes of KRS Chapter 189.
You also ask whether the Meade County Fiscal Court would have the authority to establish speed limits on private streets and roads in the Doe Valley subdivision. We believe a proper ordinance establishing speed limits upon privately owned and maintained subdivision roads (not limited to those of Doe Valley), if such roads were routinely used by the public, probably would be lawful as a proper exercise of the police power of the Meade Fiscal Court. Such action might be specifically founded upon KRS 67.083(3)(t), related to a fiscal court's power to provide for enforcement of traffic regulations, and KRS 67.083(3)(u), regarding a fiscal court's authority to provide for police protection.
A variety of laws related to public safety have recognized applicability upon private property (e.g., KRS 189.396, related to enforcement of traffic regulations in off-street parking facilities offered for public use; building codes). We see no reason why a properly promulgated county ordinance, establishing traffic regulations on privately owned subdivision roads used by the public, would not be lawful.