{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-148.0222","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 148.0222","heading":"Kentucky Mountain Regional Recreation Authority -- Creation -- Status -","body":"- Powers -- Purpose -- Governance -- Operation -- Membership -- Compliance\nwith special purpose governmental entities laws -- Employees.\n(1) The Kentucky Mountain Regiona l Recreation Authority is hereby created and\nestablished as an independent, de jure municipal corporation and political\nsubdivision of the Commonwealth and shall exercise all of the powers that a\ncorporation may lawfully exercise under the laws of the Comm onwealth. The\nauthority shall be a public body corporate and politic and an instrumentality of the\nCommonwealth, established with all the general corporate powers incidental\nthereto. The authority shall be attached to the Kentucky Department for Local\nGovernment for administrative purposes only. The authority shall be reauthorized\nfor five (5) years from June 27, 2019, and may be renewed by the General\nAssembly. The authority may adopt by laws and administrative regulations, subject\nto KRS Chapter 13A, for the orderly conduct of its affairs.\n(2) The purpose of the authority is to establish, maintain, and promote a recreational\ntrail system throughout the KMRRA to increase economic development, tourism,\nand outdoor recreation for residents and visitors. The r ecreational trail system shall\nbe located with significant portions of the system situated on private property made\navailable for use through lease, license, easement, or other appropriate legal form by\nwilling landowners.\n(3) The authority shall be governed by a board of directors consisting of representatives\nfrom participating counties and the Commonwealth as provided in this section.\n(4) The authority and board shall become operational when sixteen (16) target counties\ncomplete the requirements establis hed by subsection (5)(a) of this section. When at\nleast sixteen (16) target counties become participating counties, the commissioner\nof the Department for Local Government shall notify the county judge/executive of\neach of the participating counties, as we ll as the board members described in\nsubsection (6) of this section, that the requirements have been met for the authority\nand board to become operational. The commissioner shall also establish a date,\ntime, and place for an initial organizational meeting of the board, and shall serve as\ninterim chair of the initial organizational meeting until such time as a chair is\nelected. The chair shall be a resident of a participating county.\n(5) Any target county may become a participating county upon adoption of a resolution\nor ordinance by the governing body of the county specifically approving the\ncounty's participation in the KMRRA and submission of the adopted resolution or\nordinance to:\n(a) The commissioner of the Department for Local Government if the resoluti on\nor ordinance is adopted prior to the KMRRA becoming operational pursuant\nto subsection (4) of this section; or\n(b) The KMRRA if the resolution or ordinance is adopted after KMRRA becomes\noperational.\n(6) The KMRRA board shall consist of the following members:\n(a) The secretary of the Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet or his or her\ndesignee;\n(b) The commissioner of the Department for Local Government or his or her\ndesignee;\n(c) The commissioner of the Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources or his or\nher designee;\n(d) If an executive director of the authority has been employed under subsection\n(10) of this section, he or she shall serve as a nonvoting member, except in the\nevent of a tie vote of the board;\n(e) One (1) representative selected for each of  the nine (9) participating counties\nas provided in subsection (8) of this section, who shall be either:\n1. The county judge/executive; or\n2. The county judge/executive's designee, who shall be an individual\ninvolved with economic development, tourism, recreation, or a related\narea within the county;\n(f) One (1) state Representative who is from the KMRRA region shall serve as a\nnonvoting member,  appointed to a two (2) year term by the Speaker of the\nKentucky House of Representatives, and shall not serve another term\nconsecutively with a prior term; and\n(g) One (1) state Senator who is from the KMRRA region shall serve as a\nnonvoting member, appoi nted to a two (2) year term by the President of the\nKentucky Senate, and shall not serve another term consecutively with a prior\nterm.\n(7) The board membership of each county judge/executive or his or her designee shall:\n(a) Begin with the county judge/executive's term of office; and\n(b) End with the county judge/executive's term of office.\nIf a county judge/executive ceases to serve as the county judge/executive prior to\nthe end of his or her term, he or she shall be removed from the board, and his or her\nreplacement as county judge/executive shall serve on the board for the remainder of\nthe term.\n(8) (a) The twelve (12) voting members of the board shall be:\n1. The nine (9) county judges/executive, or their designees, from different\nKMRRA participating cou nties as described in subsection (6)(e) of this\nsection;\n2. The secretary of the Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet or his or her\ndesignee;\n3. The commissioner of the Department for Local Government or his or\nher designee; and\n4. The commissioner of the De partment of Fish and Wildlife Resources or\nhis or her designee.\n(b) The nine (9) initial county representatives shall be the county judges/executive\nof Breathitt, Martin, Perry, Knott, Leslie, Letcher, Pike, Magoffin, and Floyd\nCounties or their designees in that order. The first three (3) representatives\nlisted shall serve a three (3) year term as voting members, the next three (3)\nrepresentatives shall serve a two (2) year term as voting members, and the\nremaining three (3) representatives shall serve a o ne (1) year term as voting\nmembers.\n(c) After each term ends, the voting county representative shall be replaced by\none (1) of the county judges/executive or his or her designee from one (1) of\nthe target counties whose representative has not yet served as  a voting\nmember.\n(d) After the third year of operation, each new voting member shall serve a term\nof three (3) years, then step down and let a representative from the next county\nin line alphabetically whose representative has not served as a voting membe r\ntake his or her place.\n(e) Once representatives from all participating counties within KMRA have each\nserved one (1) term, the rotation shall begin again.\n(9) (a) The board shall meet at least once annually to elect officers, establish a regular\nmeeting schedule, and perform other duties as may be prescribed in the\nauthority's bylaws. The board chair may call special meetings at any time.\n(b) Notice of each meeting shall be made both in writing and electronically and\ndelivered to board members at least se ven (7) days before the scheduled\nmeeting date. Electronic mail alone is an acceptable form of notice of special\nmeetings, so long as it is sent to directors at least seven (7) days before the\nscheduled meeting date.\n(c) Accommodations shall be made for re mote attendance of each board meeting,\nwhether regular or special, through means such as video conferencing,\nconference call, or similar services.\n(d) The presence of a majority of the total voting members of the KMRRA board,\nwhether in person or remote, s hall constitute a quorum. Vacant board\npositions shall be counted against the quorum total necessary for board action.\n(e) Board meetings shall be held exclusively within KMRRA participating\ncounties, and each meeting shall be held in a different participa ting county\nuntil every participating county has hosted a meeting, at which time the cycle\nshall begin again.\n(10) The KMRRA board:\n(a) Shall elect a chair, vice chair, secretary, treasurer, and any other officers as\nestablished in the bylaws of the board;\n(b) May appoint temporary and standing committees to accomplish the purposes\nof KRS 148.0221 to 148.0225 and shall clearly describe the role,\nresponsibilities, and tenure of each committee so created;\n(c) Shall adopt bylaws for the management and regulati on of its affairs and all\nother matters necessary to effect proper management and accountability of the\nboard. The bylaws shall include, at a minimum, the following:\n1. The powers and duties of the board's members and the manner and\nnumber of officers to be elected from among the board members; and\n2. The terms, conditions, and manner in which a board member will be\nremoved;\n(d) Shall review and approve an annual budget;\n(e) Shall ensure that all administrative costs for operating the authority are paid\nfrom funds accruing to the authority. The authority, its board, and its staff\nshall incur no liability or obligation beyond the extent to which revenues have\nbeen provided under KRS 148.0221 to 148.0225;\n(f) May seek administrative and management assistance through written\nagreement with state agencies, local area development districts, or local\ngoverning bodies until such time as the board has secured sufficient funding\nthrough grants, loans, fee systems, or any other funding source to hire staff;\nand\n(g) Shall employ an executive director to act as its chief executive officer to serve\nat its will and pleasure once it is financially possible to do so.\n(11) The authority shall comply with the provisions of KRS Chapter 65A.\n(12) The executive director:\n(a) Shall be a person who is domiciled in a KMRRA participating county;\n(b) May, with permission of the board and approval of the commissioner of the\nDepartment for Local Governm ent or his or her designee, employ any other\nhourly personnel considered necessary and retain temporary services. Pay\nraises for any personnel shall require approval of the board and the\ncommissioner of the Department for Local Government or his or her designee;\n(c) Shall carry out plans to implement KRS 148.0221 to 148.0225 and to exercise\nthose powers enumerated in the bylaws of the board;\n(d) Shall, along with any staff with responsibilities so delegated by the executive\ndirector, ensure that all minutes , records, and orders of the authority and its\nboard are complete and available for public inspection, if necessary;\n(e) Shall prepare narrative and financial reports of the authority's fiscal\nobligations and submit these reports to the board at regularly scheduled\nmeetings or as otherwise directed; and\n(f) May cast a tiebreaking vote in board decisions, but shall not be permitted to\ncast a vote under any other circumstances. Until such time as an executive\ndirector is hired, the chairperson of the board sh all make the final\ndetermination in the event of a tie vote of the board.\n(13) The executive director, all full -time or part-time personnel, all seasonal employees,\nand all contractual employees, if any, shall be paid from funds accruing to the\nauthority and authorized in a budget approved by the board, unless the Department\nfor Local Government has temporarily taken on the responsibility of paying any of\nthose employees.\n(14) Board members shall serve without compensation, but may be reimbursed for actual\nand necessary travel expenses incurred in the performance of their duties, subject to\nFinance and Administration Cabinet administrative regulations. Board members\nmay have their lodging reimbursed by KMRRA. Any reimbursement requests\nexceeding five hundred  dollars ($500) per person shall be submitted to the\nDepartment for Local Government for approval.","path":["KRS Chapter 148"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=52819","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:50:40Z","sha256":"14e7ec0463668b4635519c40ee62ef6750df7ffdd96c2dcc353acb587b03c31c","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-148.0221","next":"us-ky/krs-148.0223"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}