Parsing KRS 424.220 - Financial Statements 0.01

 Now, for a deep dive into an extremely obscure corner of Kentucky law, I report upon my most recent legal obsession. It is one of those esoteric tidbits of great practical importance to a very limited group of lawyers and public officials, which is otherwise totally boring to normal people. KRS 424.220 is a substantive statutory provision that imposes critically important responsibilities upon a large number of local government officials, and it has been codified in the Kentucky Revised Statutes chapter on Legal Notices.

KRS 424.220(1) begins this section with the exceptions, as follows:

"Excepting officers of a city of the first class or a consolidated local government, a county containing such a city or consolidated local government, a public agency of such a city, consolidated local government, or county, or a joint agency of such a city, consolidated local government, and county, or of a school district of such a city, consolidated local government, or county, and excepting officers of a city with a population equal to or greater than twenty thousand (20,000) based upon the most recent federal decennial census or an urban-county government, every public officer of any school district, city, consolidated local government, county, or subdivision, or district less than a county, whose duty it is to collect, receive, have the custody, control, or disbursement of public funds, * * * *"

KRS 424.220 does not apply to officers of:

• A city of the first class (Louisville *);
• A consolidated local government (Louisville **);
• A county containing such a city or consolidated local government (Jefferson County); 
• A public agency of such a city, consolidated local government, or county (Louisville / Jefferson County);
• A joint agency of such a city, consolidated local government, and county;
• A school district of such a city, consolidated local government, or county;
• An urban-county government (Lexington *), or;
• A city with a population equal to or greater than twenty thousand (20,000).

* NOTE According to an analysis by the Kentucky League of Cities, Lexington/Fayette Urban County Government and Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government are categorized together.

KRS 424.220 does apply to every public officer whose duty it is to collect, receive, have the custody, control, or disbursement of public funds, of the following government units which are not excluded above:

1. Any school district;
2. City (less than 20,000 population);
3. Consolidated local government (**);
4. County or subdivision, or;
5. District less than a county

** NOTE There is need for clarification of this statute or of my mind. Stripping away the verbiage, section (1) reads, "Excepting officers of a...consolidated local government...every public officer of any...consolidated local government...whose duty it is to collect...shall.... " Officers of consolidated local governments are both specifically excluded and then expressly included.

Also, " . . . . every officer of any board or commission of [such] a city, consolidated local government [**], county, or district whose duty it is to collect, receive, have the custody, control, or disbursement of funds collected from the public in the form of rates, charges, or assessments for services or benefits . . . ." [parentheticals added]. KRS 424.220(1)

Briefly, KRS 424.220 does not apply to public officers of Louisville, Lexington and the sixteen Kentucky cities with a population of 20,000, or more, but it does apply to all other officers who have the responsibility to account for public funds. .

Special rules apply to cities with less than 1,000 population.

Next part:  Parsing KRS 424.220 - Financial Statements 0.02

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Tom Fox, J. D.
Southern Specialty Law Publishing Company
Louisville, Kentucky

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This is not legal advice and I am not a lawyer.