KRS 44.020: Claims allowed by courts -- Contest.

(1) Within three (3) working days after the first and fifteenth of each month, the sheriff,

or any other public official with a claim payable from the State Treasury for duties

performed in any court of the Court of Justice, shall make out the claim and have i t

certified by the judge of the court as allowable for payment, and transmit the list to

the Department for Local Government. The claim approved by the judge of the

court shall serve as an order of allowance notwithstanding any statutory provision to

the contrary. The Department for Local Government shall keep a separate record of

all claims allowed in each county, noting the number and amount of each warrant

issued for the payment of the claims.

(2) The order of any court authorized by law to approve and allow fee bills, settlements,

credits, charges, and other claims against the State Treasury shall not be treated as a

judgment, or made conclusive against the state, but shall only be regarded as prima

facie evidence of the correctness and legality of the f ee bill, settlement, credit,

charge, or claim. The Department for Local Government, if it believes the fee bill,

settlement, credit, charge, or claim to be fraudulent, erroneous, or illegal, may, upon

the advice of the Attorney General, refuse to pay and m ay contest the claim in the

Franklin Circuit Court, which shall have exclusive jurisdiction of all actions against

the Department for Local Government to compel the payment of claims against the

State Treasury.