64.5275 Legislative finding relating to certain county officers -- Maximum salary schedule -- Annual incentive for completed training units. (1) The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky hereby finds and determines that county judges/executive, county clerks, jailers who operate a full service jail, and sheriffs in all counties are officers whose duties or jurisdictions are coextensive with that of the Commonwealth within the meaning of Section 246 of the Constitution of Kentucky. (2) Effective on the first Monday in January of 1999, the maximum salary of county judges/executive, county clerks, jailers who operate a full service jail, and sheriffs shall be fixed by the Department for Local Government according to a salary schedule in accordance with Section 246 of the Kentucky Constitution. The salary schedule provides that these officials, as officers whose jurisdiction or duties are coextensive with the Commonwealth, shall be paid at a rate no greater than twelve thousand dollars ($12,000) per annum as adjusted for any increase or decrease in the consumer price index and as described in subsection (4) of this section. (3) The salary schedule for county judges/executive, county clerks, jailers who operate a full service jail, and sheriffs in all counties provides for nine (9) levels of salary based upon the population of the county in the year prior to the election of county officials as determined by the United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census's annual estimates. To implement the salary schedule, the Department for Local Government shall, by November 1 of each year preceding the election of county officials, certify for each county the population group applicable to each county based on the most recent estimates of the United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. For the purposes of this section, the salary schedule for county judges/executive, county clerks, jailers who operate a full service jail, and sheriffs shall remain as determined by the Department for Local Government pursuant to this section, regardless of changes in the population estimates or the actual census count that may occur during the term for which the official has been elected or appointed. The salary schedule provides four (4) steps for yearly increments within each population group. County officers named in this section shall be paid according to the first step within their population group for the first year or portion thereof they serve in office. Thereafter, each officer, on January 1 of each subsequent year, shall be advanced automatically to the next step in the salary schedule until the maximum salary figure for the population group is reached. Prior to assuming office on the first Monday in January, 1999, or thereafter, any person assuming any of the offices for which the salary is determined by this section must certify to the commissioner of the Department for Local Government the total number of years, not to exceed four (4) years, that the person has previously served in the office. The Department for Local Government shall place the officer in the proper step based upon a formula of one (1) incremental step per full calendar year of service: SALARY SCHEDULE County Population by Group Steps and Salary for Affected Officers Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4  9,000 8,700 9,000 8,700 8,400 8,100 8,400 8,200 8,000 7,800 7,800 7,600 7,400 7,200 $7,200 $7,000 $6,800 $6,600 Group I 0-4,999 Group II 5,000-9,999 Group III 10,000-19,999 Group IV 20,000-29,999 Group V 30,000-44,999 Group VI 45,000-59,999 Group VII 60,000-89,999 Group VIII 90,000-499,999 Group IX 500,000 and up 12,000 (4) Upon publication of the annual consumer price index by the United States Department of Commerce, the Department for Local Government shall fix the salary of the county judge/executive, county clerk, jailer who operates a full service jail, and sheriff at an annual rate of salary to which the county official is entitled pursuant to the increase in the Consumer Price Index and the salary schedule contained in this section. This salary determination shall be retroactive to the preceding January 1. 10,200 10,000 10,400 10,800 10,400 10,900 11,400 10,500 11,000 11,500 9,300 9,600 9,000 9,400 9,800 9,600 9,900 (5) Notwithstanding any provision contained in this section, no county official holding office on July 15, 1998, shall receive any reduction in salary or reduction in adjustment to salary otherwise allowable by the statutes in force on July 15, 1998. (6) In addition to the step increases based on service in office, each officer shall be paid an annual incentive of one hundred dollars ($100) per calendar year for each forty (40) hour training unit successfully completed, based on continuing service in that office and, except as provided in this subsection, completion of at least forty (40) hours of approved training in each subsequent calendar year. If an officer fails, without good cause as determined by the commissioner of the Department for Local Government, to obtain the minimum amount of approved training in any year, the officer shall lose all training incentives previously accumulated. Each training unit shall be approved and certified by the Department for Local Government. No officer shall receive more than one (1) training unit per calendar year nor more than four (4) incentive payments per calendar year. Each officer shall be allowed to carry forward up to forty (40) hours of training credit into the following calendar year for the purpose of satisfying the minimum amount of training for that year. Each annual incentive payment shall be adjusted by the Department for Local Government on an annual basis for any increase or decrease in the consumer price index in the same manner as salaries are adjusted as described in subsection (4) of this section. The Department for Local Government shall promulgate administrative regulations in accordance with KRS Chapter 13A to establish guidelines for the approval and certification of training units. (7) Except in counties that contain an urban-county form of government, justices of the peace who serve on fiscal courts, county commissioners, and jailers who operate life safety jails, jailers who are part of a transportation plan, or jailers who act as court bailiffs shall also be eligible for the training incentive payments in accordance with subsection (6) of this section. (8) The provisions of this section shall not apply to a county judge/executive in a county which has established a consolidated local government pursuant to KRS Chapter 67C. Effective: July 15, 2010 History: Amended 2010 Ky. Acts ch. 117, sec. 44, effective July 15, 2010. -- Amended 2007 Ky. Acts ch. 47, sec. 38, effective June 26, 2007. -- Amended 2002 Ky. Acts ch. 245, sec. 1, effective July 15, 2002; and ch. 346, sec. 21, effective July 15, 2002. -- Amended 2001 Ky. Acts ch. 71, sec. 1, effective June 21, 2001. -- Created 1998 Ky. Acts ch. 610, sec. 1, effective July 15, 1998.