Request By:
Ms. Darlene Drake
Opinion
Opinion By: CHRIS GORMAN, ATTORNEY GENERAL; Gerard R. Gerhard, Assistant Attorney General
OPINION OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
The following question has been presented:
Is a deputy county judge bound by any law to post a bond before performing the duties of this office or at any time he or she holds this position?
The answer is that no state statute requires that a deputy county judge/executive post a bond before performing or after assuming the duties of such office. Discussion follows.
Two sections of the Constitution of Kentucky bear upon the question you have posed.
Section 103 of the Constitution of Kentucky provides:
The Judges of the County Courts, Clerks, Sheriffs, Surveyors, Coroners, Jailers, Constables, and such other officers as the General Assembly may, from time to time, require, shall before they enter upon the duties of their respective offices, and as often thereafter as may be deemed proper, give such bond and security as may be pre- scribed by law.
(Emphasis added.)
Section 224 of the Constitution of Kentucky provides:
The General Assembly shall provide by a general law what officers shall execute bond for the faithful discharge of their duties, and fix the liability therein.
(Emphasis added.)
Statutorily, KRS 62.050(1) provides that:
No officer required by law to give bond shall enter upon the duties of his office until he gives the bond.
(Emphasis added.)
It will be noticed from a reading of the provisions quoted above, that a public officer is required to post a bond in relation to the performance of the duties of an office if a statute has been passed so providing.
In the case of a county judge/executive (as distinguished from a deputy county judge/executive) KRS 67.720 provides: