{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-342.230","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 342.230","heading":"Employees of the Department of Workers' Claims -- Duties of","body":"commissioner -- Appointment, qualifications, terms, and duties of\nadministrative law judges -- Exemption of administrative law judges from\nclassified service -- Removal provisions -- Vacancies -- Chief administrative\nlaw judge.\n(1) The commissioner shall establish and fill any positions, including medical services\nand advice, necessary to carry on the department's work subject to the limits of\nappropriations for the department and  except as otherwise required by law. All\nemployees of the department shall be classified employees under KRS Chapter\n18A, except for the commissioner, the administrative law judges, and board\nmembers. The commissioner shall have immediate supervision of t he employees of\nthe department, perform duties assigned to him or her, and have complete authority\nto carry out all the administrative functions relating to the department.\n(2) The commissioner with the assistance of the board shall train and instruct the\nadministrative law judges on an ongoing basis; assign cases; and monitor the\ncaseloads of the administrative law judges and the Workers' Compensation Board to\nensure timely disposition of cases; keep and be the custodian of the records of the\nboard and the administrative law judges; annually report the activities of the board\nand the administrative law judges to the Governor; and devote his or her full time to\nthe duties of his or her office. The commissioner shall be paid a salary not less than\nthe salary of a member of the board.\n(3) The Governor shall appoint, with the consent of the Senate in accordance with KRS\n11.160 for a term of four (4) years, not more than nineteen (19) administrative law\njudges, each of whom shall be an attorney and shall have fiv e (5) years' experience\nin the Commonwealth in the practice of workers' compensation law or a related\nfield, and extensive knowledge of workers' compensation law, and shall be paid the\nsame salary as a Circuit Judge. Each newly appointed administrative law  judge\nshall not assume his or her office until June 1 following confirmation by the Senate.\nAdministrative law judges who are reappointed shall continue to serve in their\ncapacity until the reappointment is confirmed by the Senate or the Senate adjourns\nwithout confirming the appointment. Each administrative law judge shall be exempt\nfrom the classified service, and his or her support staff may be exempt from the\nclassified service. Each administrative law judge may be employed for additional\nterms with th e consent of the Senate in accordance with KRS 11.160. The\nGovernor, at least thirty (30) days prior to the expiration of a term of an\nadministrative law judge, shall provide the name of the individual whom he or she\nintends to appoint to the position to the chairman of the Senate Standing Committee\non Economic Development, Tourism, and Labor. These administrative law judges\nshall conduct hearings, and otherwise supervise the presentation of evidence and\nperform any other duties assigned to them by statute and shall render final\ndecisions, orders, or awards. Administrative law judges may, in receiving evidence,\nmake rulings affecting the competency, relevancy, and materiality of the evidence\nabout to be presented and upon motions presented during the taking of evidence as\nwill expedite the preparation of the case.\n(4) To ensure that the administrative law judges perform their responsibilities\ncompetently and issue decisions consistent with this chapter, the commissioner\nshall, at least twice annually, conduct  training and education seminars in workers'\ncompensation law; administrative law; and methods and procedures for writing\nwell-reasoned, clear, correct, and concise opinions, orders, or awards.\n(5) The Governor may at any time remove the commissioner or an y member of the\nboard. The commissioner may remove any administrative law judge. A member of\nthe board or an administrative law judge may be removed for good cause, including\nviolation of the code of judicial ethics or the code of ethics applicable to the\nexecutive branch of the Commonwealth. In addition, an administrative law judge or\na member of the board may be removed for the persistent or repeated failure to\nperform satisfactorily the specific duties assigned in this chapter, including the\nrequirement of timely disposition of cases, review of attorney's fees, and failure to\nattend training and continuing education programs required by this section.\n(6) Any vacancy in the term of an administrative law judge, which occurs prior to the\nexpiration of the te rm, shall be filled if necessary by appointment of the Governor\nin accordance with subsection (3) of this section within sixty (60) days from the\ndate the vacancy occurs, with the consent of the Senate in accordance with KRS\n11.160, for the remainder of th e term. An administrative law judge appointed to fill\nan unexpired term shall immediately assume the office subject to the confirmation\nby the Senate in accordance with KRS 11.160 for the remainder of the term.\n(7) Any administrative law judge not currentl y pending confirmation by the Senate\nwith a term expiring on or before:\n(a) December 1, 2025, shall continue serving a term that shall expire on June 1,\n2026;\n(b) December 1, 2026, shall continue serving a term that shall expire on June 1,\n2027;\n(c) December 1, 2027, shall continue serving a term that shall expire on June 1,\n2028; or\n(d) December 1, 2028, shall continue serving a term that shall expire on June 1,\n2029.\n(8) One (1) of the administrative law judges appointed pursuant to this section shall be\nappointed as a chief administrative law judge, to have the same qualifications,\npowers, duties, and requirements as those of other administrative law judges. The\nchief adm inistrative law judge shall not be assigned regular dockets but shall\ninstead assist the commissioner by doing all scheduling of the administrative law\njudges, handling dockets assigned to the administrative law judges in case of an\nemergency, providing su pervision of the administrative law judges, and providing\neducational opportunities for the administrative law judges. The chief\nadministrative law judge shall be paid at the same rate as the administrative law\njudges plus an additional three thousand doll ars ($3,000) per year. At any time the\ncommissioner may replace the chief administrative law judge with one (1) of the\nother administrative law judges at which time the former chief administrative law\njudge shall resume the duties assigned to the other adm inistrative law judges\npursuant to this chapter. On January 1, 1998, the commissioner shall employ a\nperson in this position for a four (4) year term.","path":["KRS Chapter 342"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=56776","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:58:31Z","sha256":"c95f539b09db7a9df9f052314b601088806e760b2130a3c30e32a4f3bc900012","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-342.229","next":"us-ky/krs-342.231"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}