PHILIP STURGILL, INDIVIDUALLY AND FIDELITY AND DEPOSIT COMPANY OF MARYLAND v. BOYD FISCAL COURT
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RENDERED: April 1, 2005; 10:00 a.m.
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED
Commonwealth Of Kentucky
Court of Appeals
NO. 2004-CA-000500-MR
PHILIP STURGILL, INDIVIDUALLY AND
AS SHERIFF OF BOYD COUNTY, KY; AND
FIDELITY AND DEPOSIT COMPANY OF
MARYLAND
v.
APPELLANTS
APPEAL FROM BOYD CIRCUIT COURT
HONORABLE DANIEL R. SPARKS, SPECIAL JUDGE
ACTION NO. 01-CI-00643
BOYD FISCAL COURT
APPELLEE
OPINION
AFFIRMING IN PART AND
REVERSING IN PART
** ** ** ** **
BEFORE:
JUDGE.1
COMBS, CHIEF JUDGE; MINTON, JUDGE; AND MILLER, SENIOR
COMBS, CHIEF JUDGE:
Philip Sturgill, individually and in his
capacity as Sheriff of Boyd County; and Fidelity and Deposit
Company of Maryland, Sturgill’s surety, appeal from a summary
1
Senior Judge John D. Miller sitting as Special Judge by assignment of the
Chief Justice pursuant to Section 110(5)(b) of the Kentucky Constitution and
KRS 21.580.
judgment holding Sturgill liable to the Boyd County Fiscal Court
for more than $113,000.00.
After our review of the record, we
affirm a portion of the judgment and reverse in part.
Phillip Sturgill began his tenure as Sheriff of Boyd
County in January 1994.
The operation of the sheriff’s office
is ordinarily publicly funded through sums allocated from the
county treasury, commissions earned for tax collection, fees
collected for services rendered, grants administered under
federal programs, and interest earned on funds on deposit.
In
order to supplement this public funding, Sturgill’s office
undertook a campaign to solicit private donations.
Several newspaper articles contained in the record of
the trial court accurately summarize the factual background.
The following article appeared in The Daily Independent, a local
newspaper of general circulation:
King’s Daughters’ Medical Center has given a
financial shot in the arm to the 911
dispatching center in Ashland and the law
enforcement agencies it serves.
* * * *
The new equipment Boyd County Sheriff Philip
Sturgill plans to buy for his department
will provide deputies a higher level of
security in their communications.
“There’s so many people with scanners out
there. When you’re approaching a house
where there’s a high-risk call, you’re not
sure if they’re listening and it’s hard to
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communicate,” he said. “The new digital
technology will give us voice privacy.”
In another article, the Daily Independent recounted the
following:
Boyd County sheriff’s deputies will soon
have added protection, thanks to a recent
gift from a local company.
On Monday, Addington Enterprises Inc. made
what Sheriff Philip Sturgill called “a major
donation” to a fund to outfit deputies with
bullet-proof vests.
Sturgill wouldn’t reveal the amount of the
donation, but he did say it was “so generous
that I was nearly moved to tears.”
* * * *
Sturgill said a trip to Washington D.C. with
his daughter last month gave him the
incentive to start the bullet-proof vest
fund.
“We stopped by the Law Enforcement Memorial
and I was struck by the number of peace
officers who have died in the line of duty,”
he said. “When we came back home, I started
immediately making phone calls.”
Sturgill said he also mailed out letters of
solicitation to local businesses.
In a third article, the Daily Independent related the following:
During a high-profile police chase last
summer, the Boyd County Sheriff’s Department
had no way of stopping a suspect as he sped
toward Ashland on U.S. 60.
The deputies had to ask for help from city
police, who using stop sticks, helped bring
the pursuit to a halt.
-3-
* * * *
Now, Boyd County deputies no longer have to
borrow the devices from Ashland.
The sheriff’s office recently bought stop
sticks for every cruiser. Sheriff Philip
Sturgill said he hopes the purchase means
future pursuits can be ended without
injuries to the suspect, police officers or
other motorists.
* * * *
Sturgill purchased the new stop sticks with
a donation from King’s Daughters Medical
Center. The funding also provided radio
upgrades for the department’s cruisers, he
said.
Julie Marsh, public-relations specialist for
KDMC, said the donation to the sheriff’s
department is part of the hospital’s
continued support of local law enforcement.
“Both the medical center and the safety
forces are dedicated to saving lives, so it
is fitting that we work together and support
each other’s efforts,” Marsh said. “We are
glad the Boyd County Sheriff’s Department is
able to benefit in a number of ways from our
donation.”
Finally, the Daily Independent reported:
Police found drugs in the Boyd County Fiscal
Court chambers Thursday.
And they were glad.
Baggies containing marijuana, cocaine
residue and heroin were sniffed out by the
newest member of the Boyd County Sheriff’s
Department during a demonstration.
Cody, a golden retriever, sniffed furiously
as his handler, Deputy Greg Armstrong, led
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him first around the perimeter of the room
and then its furnishings.
* * * *
Also on hand for Cody’s performance were
Bill Gerak and Bill Jessie, vice-presidents
at Kentucky Electric Steel Inc., which
donated $5,000.00 to the sheriff’s
department to pay for Cody’s purchase and
training.
“Our company thinks of itself as a good
corporate citizen and we felt this was an
extremely worthwhile cause,” said Gerak,
vice-president of administration for the
Coalton business.
* * * *
With the donation from Kentucky Electric
Steel, the only cost to the taxpayers for
Cody is food, Sturgill said. Two local
veterinary clinics – Ashland Animal Clinic
and Guardian Animal Hospital at Meads – have
donated services and medicine.
Sturgill said he hopes other local
businesses will offer to help pay any future
costs.
From 1994 through 1999, the sheriff’s office accepted
donations from local citizens and corporations totalling more
than $160,000.00.
The campaign was obviously successful, and
the generosity of the corporate community was both remarkable
and praiseworthy.
Pursuant to the provisions of KRS2 134.310, Sturgill
was required to file an annual financial settlement with the
2
Kentucky Revised Statutes
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fiscal court.
The sheriff’s receipt of private donations was
well publicized throughout the county.
For example, Billy Joe
Ross, Boyd County Judge/Executive from 1994 through 1998, stated
in his affidavit that he was aware that Sturgill was accepting
private donations from individuals and businesses; however, he
never asked for an accounting of the funds donated.
Sturgill’s
final, formal settlement of accounts with the Boyd Fiscal Court
did not include the receipt or disbursement of the private
donations received between 1994 and 1999.
In 2001, Boyd County Fiscal Court requested Edward B.
Hatchett, Jr., the Commonwealth’s Auditor of Public Accounts, to
undertake an examination of the donations received and disbursed
by the sheriff’s office from May 12, 1994, through August 31,
2000.
The state auditor interviewed sheriff’s office personnel;
confirmed significant donations with individual and corporate
donors; and examined accounting records, bank records, and other
detailed documentation of transactions found in the sheriff’s
office.
On May 8, 2001, the auditor submitted a complete report
of his findings to Sheriff Sturgill and to Bill F. Scott, the
county Judge/Executive.
The state auditor reported that his staff had
identified $160,868 in private donor receipts for the period
under examination.
Of these receipts, $143,244 had been
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disbursed, leaving $17,624 on deposit in the sheriff’s office
accounts as of August 31, 2000.
The report indicated that more than one-half of the
private donations received during the period were made by Kings’
Daughters Medical Center.
There was no suggestion that the
hospital’s donations were linked in any way to the performance
of its public duty by the sheriff’s office.
However, the report
noted that nearly $25,000.00 in disbursements from the office’s
private donor accounts was not supported by adequate
documentation.
Consequently, the auditor’s staff was unable to
comment on the nature of these disbursements.
Finally, the
report concluded that all of the properly supported
disbursements appeared to have been made for a public purpose
directly benefiting the sheriff’s office and its constituents,
including expenditures for body armor, firearms, uniforms,
office equipment, radio equipment, and canine training and
supplies.
The state auditor recommended that the sheriff’s
office refrain from soliciting or accepting donations from
private sources in the future and that it remit the $17,624
remaining on deposit to the Boyd County Fiscal Court.
In a
written response to the auditor’s report, Sturgill indicated
that no additional donations had been accepted by the sheriff’s
office.
He indicated that the sheriff’s office would no longer
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solicit or accept private donations and that the office would
remit the funds remaining on deposit to the fiscal court.
Sturgill also sought an assurance from the fiscal court that it
would honor the intentions of the private donors by purchasing
protective body armor for Boyd County deputy sheriffs and police
officers.
With respect to the inadequately documented
disbursements, Sturgill acknowledged the likelihood that some
records might have been misplaced or discarded over the years.
Finally, Sturgill emphasized that his plan to solicit and accept
private donations for the benefit of the public had been
undertaken in good faith supported by assurances from the county
attorney that this activity was allowed by law.
He also noted
that his conscientious use of the private donations had resulted
in remitting more than $300,000 in sheriff’s office income to
the county for public use.
On June 28, 2001, the Boyd County Fiscal Court filed a
complaint against Sturgill in circuit court.
(The complaint was
amended in September 2002 to include Sturgill’s surety, Fidelity
and Deposit Company of Maryland, as a party-defendant.)
fiscal court alleged that Sturgill:
The
(1) had failed to file a
complete statement of his office’s receipts and expenditures;
(2) had failed to turn over to the fiscal court the office’s
excess receipts; and (3) had failed to keep his expenditures
-8-
within the budget for his office.
The fiscal court demanded
that Sturgill disclose “all the income of his office . . . and
all the expenditures. . . .”
It also asked that he be required
to pay over to the fiscal court “the amount by which the income
of his office exceeds his authorized expenditures.”
Sturgill
filed a counterclaim alleging abuse of process and malicious
prosecution.
In February 2002, following a period of written
discovery, the trial court granted the fiscal court’s motion for
partial summary judgment.
The court determined that the
provisions of KRS 61.310 prohibited the sheriff’s office from
soliciting or accepting private donations to offset the costs of
equipment, supplies, and training; but that once accepted, the
amount of the donated funds was required to be included as
income in the sheriff’s annual settlement statements with any
excess receipts to be remitted to the fiscal court.
The court also found persuasive an opinion from the
office of the attorney general dated August 13, 1982.
82-433.
Ky. OAG
In that letter opinion, the attorney general’s office
indicated that a county sheriff has no statutory authority to
receive donations for the operations of his office.
“Moreover,
KRS 61.310(2) prohibits gifts paid to sheriffs or their deputies
for the performance of any service.”
-9-
Id. at 1.
In a supplemental summary judgment, entered March 1,
2004, and designated as a final and appealable order, the court
found as follows:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
The Defendant Philip Sturgill was the
sheriff of Boyd County, Kentucky from
January, 1994 until January, 2003.
During the years 1994 through 1999,
inclusive, various businesses and other
entities made donations to the Boyd
County Sheriff’s Office that were
omitted from [Sturgill’s] annual
settlements for those years.
Defendant Sturgill has documented
certain expenditures from those
donations for which he is entitled to
credit.
For the year 1994, Defendant Sturgill
had unreported receipts of $14,423.47
from which expenditures of $13,649.04
were documented, leaving $1,354.43 that
should have been paid over to the fiscal
court as part of the sheriff’s
settlement for 1994.
For the year 1995, Defendant Sturgill
had unreported receipts of $16,896.20
from which $9,956.88 in expenditures
were documented, leaving $6,939.32 that
should have been paid over to the fiscal
court as part of the sheriff’s
settlement for 1995.
For the year 1996, Defendant Sturgill
had unreported receipts of $35,171.30
from which expenditures of $11,565.58
were documented, leaving $23,605.72 that
should have been paid over to the fiscal
court as part of the sheriff’s
settlement for 1996.
For the year 1997, Defendant Sturgill
had unreported receipts of $34,346.33
from which expenditures of $4,899.44
were documented, leaving $29,446.89 that
should have been paid over to the fiscal
court as part of the sheriff’s
settlement for 1997.
-10-
8.
For the year 1998, unreported income was
exceeded by documented disbursements and
therefore nothing is now owed to the
fiscal court for that year.
9. For the year 1999, Defendant Sturgill
had unreported receipts of $48,475.99
and documented disbursements of
$51,973.58. However, he had been placed
on a budget for that year by the fiscal
court and he was not entitled to spend
more than the amount budgeted for his
expenditures. According to his
settlement for 1999, $10,086.96 remained
unspent from his budget. When this
amount is credited against his receipts,
$38,389.03 is left owing to the fiscal
court for that year.
10. The total amount owed to the fiscal
court by Defendant Sturgill for the
years 1994 through 1999 is $113,457.62.
11. Defendant Philip Sturgill has executed a
qualifying bond with Defendant Fidelity
and Deposit Company of Maryland as
surety in the amount of $10,000 for each
of his two terms as sheriff. The terms
of the bonds are that the Defendant
Sturgill shall “honestly account for all
moneys coming into his hands according
to law.”
12. The Plaintiff filed this action to
require the Defendant Sturgill to
account for all the income and
expenditures of his office during his
terms as sheriff of Body County, and to
recover any additional funds owed by the
Defendant Sturgill to the Boyd Fiscal
Court.
The trial court concluded that Sturgill’s surety was jointly
liable for $20,000.00 and dismissed Sturgill’s counterclaims for
malicious prosecution and abuse of process.
followed.
-11-
This appeal
Sturgill and his surety raise numerous issues on
appeal -- several of which are made in the alternative.
We
shall address only those issues that are dispositive of this
appeal.
Sturgill and his surety maintain that the provisions
of KRS 61.310 do not prohibit all donations to the sheriff’s
office.
We agree.
(1)
(2)
(3)
KRS 61.310 provides as follows:
“Peace officer,” as used in this
section, means any sheriff, deputy
sheriff, constable, deputy
constable, patrol or any other peace
officer or deputy peace officer
except those appointed pursuant to
KRS 61.360. . . .
No peace officer shall receive any
compensation or remuneration
directly or indirectly, from any
person for the performance of any
service or duty except that he may
be compensated for employment
authorized by subsection (4) of this
section. Any peace officer who
violates this subsection may be
removed from office, under the
provisions of KRS 63.170.
Peace officers shall receive for the
performance of their services and
duties only such compensation or
remuneration as is regularly
provided and paid out of the public
funds to the amount and in the
manner provided by law except that
they may be compensated from private
funds for employment authorized by
subsection (4) of this section.
Donations made by persons to any
governmental unit or officer thereof
do not constitute public funds
within the meaning of this
subsection.
-12-
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
A peace officer may, while in
office, and during hours other than
regular or scheduled duty hours, act
in any private employment as guard
or watchman or in any other similar
or private employment. . . .
No principal peace officer shall
appoint or continue the appointment
of any deputy contrary to the
provision of this section. When it
appears by the affidavit of two (2)
citizens, taxpayers of the county,
filed with any principal peace
officer, that there is reasonable
cause to believe that any of his
deputies are receiving compensation
from private sources contrary to the
provisions of this section, the
peace officer shall forthwith
investigate the charges contained in
the affidavit, and if he finds the
charges are true he shall forthwith
remove any such deputy from office.
Failure to do so shall constitute
neglect of duty on the part of the
principal peace officer, and he may
be removed from office under the
provision of KRS 63.170.
In addition to being subject to
removal from office, any peace
officer who violates any of the
provisions of this section shall be
fined not less than five hundred
dollars ($500) nor more than five
thousand dollars ($5,000), or
confined in jail for not more than
one (1) year, or both.
Except as provided in KRS 61.360 and
277.280, any person who directly or
indirectly pays or contributes or
causes to be paid or contributed any
money or other thing of value to any
peace officer or to any governmental
unit or officer thereof, either as a
gift or donation for the performance
of any public duty shall be fined
not less than five hundred ($500)
-13-
nor more than five thousand dollars
($5,000).
(Emphases added).
We begin our analysis in light of a fundamental rule
of statutory construction.
“All statutes should be interpreted
to give them meaning, with each section construed to be in
accord with the statue as a whole.”
Commonwealth Transportation
Cabinet v. Tarter, 802 S.W.2d 944, 946 (Ky.App. 1990) citing
George v. Scent, 346 S.W.2d 784 (Ky. 1961).
The words and
phrases of a statute are to be given their usual, ordinary
meaning and should be construed to promote the clear objective
and purpose of the legislation.
Poole Truck Line, Inc. v.
Commonwealth Transportation Cabinet, 892 S.W.2d 611 (Ky.App.
1995).
Words of a statute (if clear) are solely determinative
of legislative intent.
Gateway Construction Co. v. Wallbaum,
356 S.W.2d 247 (Ky. 1962).
While we appreciate the reasoning
articulated in opinions issued by the office of the attorney
general, they do not serve as binding precedent for this Court.
Courier-Journal v. Jones, 895 S.W.2d 6, (Ky.App. 1995).
We agree with Sturgill that a reasonable reading of
KRS 61.310 supports the proposition that legitimate private
donations to governmental units or to peace officers may be
made.
What is forbidden is the use of those donated funds as a
source of personal compensation or remuneration to peace
-14-
officers.
Additionally, the statute clearly prohibits the
donation to and receipt by any peace officer of anything of
value in exchange for the performance of his public duty.
Finally, the statute identifies the range of penalties
applicable to any person making or receiving a gift or donation
for an improper purpose.
The provisions of KRS 61.310 do not prohibit the
donations at issue in this case.
No evidence presented to the
trial court indicated that Sturgill or any peace officer under
his authority violated any of the provisions of this statute.
There was never an allegation that Sturgill or any other peace
officer accepted the private donations in exchange for the
performance of any official service or duty or that any officer
was compensated personally either directly or indirectly from
the donated funds.
The evidence indicated instead that the
sheriff and the peace officers under his authority were duly
compensated for their services and duties only out of public
funds as provided by law.
Following his thorough review of the sheriff’s
accounts, the state auditor found specifically that there was no
suggestion that donations were linked to the sheriff office’s
performance of its public duties.
The auditor concluded that
the properly supported disbursements of the funds appeared to
have been made solely for the public benefit.
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We hold that the
plain and unambiguous language of the statute does not support
the trial court’s interpretation of the statute as preventing
legitimate private donations for the benefit of the public at
large.
Sturgill and his surety argue that the trial court
also erred by concluding that these private donations qualify as
income pursuant to KRS 134.310.
The provisions of KRS
134.310(1) required Sturgill to file an annual financial
settlement with the fiscal court.
(a)
(b)
KRS 134.310(5).
In addition, he was to file:
A complete statement of all funds
received by his office for official
services, showing separately the total
income received by his office for
services rendered, exclusive of his
commissions for collecting taxes, and
the total funds received as commissions
for collecting state, county, and
school taxes; and
A complete statement of all
expenditures of his office, including
his salary, compensation of deputies
and assistants, and reasonable
expenses.
At the time that he filed his statements in
compliance with KRS 134.310(5), Sturgill was also required to
pay over to the fiscal court any fees, commissions, and “other
income of his office” -- including income from investments -that exceeded the sum of his maximum salary and other reasonable
expenses.
KRS 134.310(6).
-16-
The private donations received by the sheriff were not
“funds received by his office for official services.”
They were
not income received by his office for services rendered nor were
they funds received as commissions for collecting state, county,
and school taxes.
The funds donated to the sheriff’s office did
not amount to “other income of his office” to be paid over to
the fiscal court as contemplated by the provisions of KRS
134.380(6).
Addressing only the funds received for official
services (namely income), the provisions of KRS 134.310 did not
require Sturgill to include in his annual settlement with the
fiscal court the private donations made to his office each year.
Accordingly, he was not required to turn over to the fiscal
court any sums that had not been disbursed from the private
donations.
The fiscal court relied in error on Funk v. Milliken,
317 S.W.2d 499 (Ky. 1958), in support of its argument to the
The Funk court observed that
contrary.
a county officer who is compensated wholly
or in part from fees is required to pay over
to the county, each year, the excess of
receipts over and above the amounts
allowable for his personal compensation, the
compensation of his legally authorized
deputies and assistants, and authorized
official expenses. (Emphases added.)
Id. at 506.
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Private donations intended for use in public safety
are simply not addressed, and there is surely no mandate that
any sums from donations not disbursed by the end of the year be
paid over to a fiscal court.
We cannot construe by innuendo a
requirement that is wholly omitted by clear statutory language
and that would patently negate the intention of the publicspirited donors.
Sturgill and his surety next contend that the trial
court erred by ordering the surrender of $38,389.03 to the
fiscal court to account for the amounts by which the sheriff’s
office allegedly exceeded its 1999 budgetary allowance.
We
agree that the court erred on this point.
In paragraph 9 of its order, the trial court concluded
as follows:
For the year 1999, Defendant Sturgill had
unreported receipts of $48,475.99 and
documented disbursements of $51,973.58.
However, he had been placed on a budget for
that year by the fiscal court and he was not
entitled to spend more than the amount
budgeted for his expenditures. According to
his settlement for 1999, $10,086.96 remained
unspent from his budget. When this amount
is credited against his receipts, $38,389.03
is left owing to the fiscal court for that
year.
Sturgill contends that his office was not bound by an expense
budget fixed by the fiscal court in 1999.
as follows:
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KRS 64.530 provides
In the case of officers compensated from
fees, or partly from fees and partly by
salary, the fiscal court shall fix the
maximum compensation that any officer except
the officers [including the sheriff] named
in KRS 64.535 may receive from both sources.
The fiscal court may also fix the maximum
amount that the officer may expend each year
for expenses of his office. The fiscal
court shall fix annually the maximum amount,
including fringe benefits, which the officer
may expend for deputies and assistants, and
allow the officer to determine the number to
be hired and the individual compensation of
each deputy and assistant.
(Emphasis added).
This provision was also directly addressed by the
court in Funk, supra, where the court observed as follows:
We think it means that the fiscal court may
fix, in advance, the categories of
reasonable official expenses that will be
allowed and the maximum amount that will be
allowed for each category. . . . It would
be desirable for all fiscal courts to
exercise the authority given by KRS 64.530,
and limit the expenses in advance, or even
require that each individual expenditure be
approved in advance. However, it is our
opinion that the statute does not require
this to be done, and where it has not been
done the officer yet may receive credit for
proper expenses.
Id. at 507.
(Emphasis original.)
Thus, the Boyd County Fiscal Court had the authority
to restrict in advance the payment of the sheriff’s expenses
from public funds.
However, it does not appear from the record
that any affirmative effort was made to do so.
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The record
before us indicates only that the fiscal court accepted
Sturgill’s proposed budget of $1,209,067.58 for 1999.
Of this
approved amount, the sheriff’s office spent only $1,163,327.00 - as reflected in the settlement timely submitted by Sturgill in
1999.
The 1999 settlement documents were carefully reviewed and
duly accepted by the fiscal court, and Sturgill surrendered to
the fiscal court more than $75,000.00 in excess fees for 1999 as
required by law.
The facts do not support the court’s order requiring
Sturgill to reimburse the fiscal court for the $38,389.03
collected in private donations and disbursed for the benefit of
his constituents in 1999.
These sums were collected and
disbursed outside the scope or proper parameters of his publicly
funded budget.
Therefore, they are not funds to be remitted as
contemplated by KRS 64.530 and as construed by Funk, supra.
We last address that part of the judgment dismissing
Sturgill’s counterclaim for malicious prosecution and abuse of
process on the part of the fiscal court.
The Boyd County Fiscal
Court was attempting to carry out legitimate governmental
functions in seeking to recoup funds associated with a public
office statutorily accountable to its oversight.
Even though we
have found that it erred in characterizing these private
donations as being subject to recoupment, we have no basis for
questioning its good faith while acting in a governmental
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capacity.
The proper treatment of revenues is a function
integral to government.
We agree that the Boyd Fiscal Court was
entitled to invoke the protection of governmental immunity to
shield it from tort liability in this case:
The principle of governmental immunity from
civil liability is partially grounded in the
separation of powers doctrine embodied in
Sections 27 and 28 of the Constitution of
Kentucky. The premise is that courts should
not be called upon to pass judgment on
policy decisions made by members of
coordinate branches of government in the
context of tort actions, because such
actions furnish an inadequate crucible for
testing the merits of social, political or
economic policy. [Citations omitted.]
Thus, a state agency is entitled to immunity
from tort liability to the extent that it is
performing a governmental, as opposed to a
proprietary, function.
Accordingly, we hold that the trial court did not err in
dismissing Sturgill’s counterclaims.
Yanero v. Davis, 65 S.W.3d
510, 519 (Ky. 2001); Franklin County v. Malone, 957 S.W.2d 195
(Ky. 1997), overruled on other grounds by Commonwealth v.
Harris, 59 S.W.3d 896 (2001).
In summary, we reverse the judgment of trial court
ordering Sturgill and his surety to reimburse the fiscal court
in the amount of approximately $113,000.00.
We affirm that
portion of the judgment dismissing Sturgill’s counterclaims
against the Fiscal Court.
MINTON, JUDGE, CONCURS.
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MILLER, SENIOR JUDGE, CONCURS IN RESULT.
BRIEF AND ORAL ARGUMENT FOR
APPELLANTS:
BRIEF AND ORAL ARGUMENT FOR
APPELLEE:
Matthew J. Wixsom
Ashland, Kentucky
Nelson T. Sparks
Louisa, Kentucky
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