{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-67.830","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 67.830","heading":"Procedure for adoption of charter county form of government or for","body":"consolidation of services or functions.\n(1) The fiscal court in any county, except in a county containing a consolidated local\ngovernment, a city of the first class, an urban -county government or a unified local\ngovernment, and a majority of all cities within the county may adopt an ordinance to\nstudy the question of merging the county government with all other units of local\ngovernment within the county to form a charter county form o f government, or\nconsolidating any agency, subdivision, department, or subdistrict providing any\nservices or performing any functions for a city or county.\n(2) In lieu of the adoption of an ordinance pursuant to subsection (1) of this section, a\npetition may be filed with the county clerk pursuant to KRS 67.832 requesting the\nappointment of a commission to study the question of the adoption of a charter\ncounty form of government or the consolidation of any agency, subdivision,\ndepartment, or subdistrict pro viding any services or performing any functions for a\ncity or county. The petition shall be signed by a number of registered voters equal to\nat least twenty percent (20%) of the residents in the unincorporated area of the\ncounty voting in the preceding reg ular election and twenty percent (20%) of the\nresidents in incorporated areas of the county voting in the preceding regular\nelection.\n(3) Within sixty (60) days of the adoption of an ordinance pursuant to subsection (1) of\nthis section, or within sixty (60 ) days of a petition being filed with the county clerk\npursuant to subsection (2) of this section and certified as sufficient pursuant to KRS\n67.832, the fiscal court and the city legislative body of each city within the county\nshall jointly appoint a commission to study the question of the adoption of a charter\ncounty form of government or the consolidation of any agency, subdivision,\ndepartment, or subdistrict providing any services or performing any functions for a\ncity or county. The fiscal court shall determine the size of the membership of the\ncommission, which shall be composed of not less than twenty (20) or more than\nforty (40) citizen members, and which may include elected or appointed county and\ncity officials. Any officials appointed under this s ection shall serve as voting\nmembers of the commission. The actual appointment of individual members to the\ncommission shall be governed by the following provisions:\n(a) The county judge/executive, with the approval of the fiscal court, shall make a\nnumber of appointments equal to fifty -five percent (55%) of the membership\nof the commission;\n(b) Jointly, the cities shall make a number of appointments equal to forty -five\npercent (45%) of the membership of the commission. The mayor of each city\nshall, subject to the approval of the city legislative body, make a number of\nappointments based on the ratio that the percentage of the population residing\nin the mayor's city bears to the total population of all cities in the county. Each\ncity within the county shall have a minimum of one (1) representative on the\ncommission; and\n(c) The county judge/executive shall serve as a voting member of the commission\nand preside as its chairman.\n(4) The commission shall be funded by the fiscal court and each city within the cou nty\nin proportion to its ratio of membership on the commission and shall be responsible\nfor developing a comprehensive plan for the consolidation of services and functions\nof cities and the county, or the formation of a charter county government that shall\ninclude but not be limited to the following provisions:\n(a) A description of the form, structure, functions, powers, and name of the\nproposed charter county government;\n(b) A description of the officers and their powers and duties of the proposed\ncharter county government;\n(c) The procedures by which the original comprehensive plan may be amended by\nthe subsequently created charter county government;\n(d) The procedures by which the comprehensive plan may be amended by county\nand participating city or citie s as a result of contingencies arising from the\nfailure of certain jurisdictions to vote in favor of joining the comprehensive\nplan. The contingency plan shall be adopted by the participating county and\ncity or cities by joint ordinance. The contingency pl an shall be adopted by the\nparticipating county and city or cities within sixty (60) days of the certification\nof the election result. The contingency plan shall only address:\n1. Issues of revenue;\n2. Issues of indebtedness;\n3. Issues of service provision, service areas, or service area boundaries;\n4. Personnel or administration, but may not infringe upon any pre -existing\ncollective bargaining agreements in force in participating jurisdictions;\nand\n5. Any issues directly related to the cost of government or provision of\nservices within the comprehensive plan.\nThe contingency plan shall not address issues within the plan related to\nparagraph (a), (b), or (c) of this subsection; and\n(e) The procedures whereby the charter county gov ernment may be dissolved.\nThe procedures drafted shall include but are not limited to:\n1. Requirements for a public petition for the dissolution of the charter\ncounty government;\n2. The question to be presented to voters for the dissolution of the charter\ncounty government; and\n3. Any administrative measures necessary to settle tax and debt issues\ncreated by the dissolution of the charter county government.\nThe proposed charter plan shall specify that no petition for the dissolution of\nthe charter county g overnment shall be valid until a period of five (5) years\nhave passed from commencement of the first terms of the duly elected officers\nof the charter county government.\n(5) The comprehensive plan shall be completed within four (4) years of the\ncommission's appointment. If a majority of the commission members are unable to\nagree on a single plan for the formation of a charter county government or the\nconsolidation of services or functions within four (4) years of the appointment of\nthe commission, the commi ssion shall be disbanded unless two -thirds (2/3) of the\ncommission agree to extend the commission for no longer than six (6) months.\n(6) The comprehensive plan shall be consistent with the provisions of the Constitution\nof Kentucky and shall be advertised at least ninety (90) days before a regular\nelection at which the voters will be asked to approve or disapprove the adoption of\nthe comprehensive plan. The question of whether the comprehensive plan shall be\nadopted shall be filed with the county clerk not later than the second Tuesday in\nAugust preceding the day of the next regular election.\n(7) The comprehensive plan proposed shall be presented to the voters at a regular\nelection and:\n(a) The votes shall be counted, returns made and canvassed in accordance  with\nthe provisions of KRS Chapters 116 to 121 governing elections;\n(b) The results shall be certified by the county board of election commissioners to\nthe county clerk; and\n(c) If a majority of those voting on the issue within each area as required by\nsubsections (8) and (9) of this section are in favor of adopting the\ncomprehensive plan, the county board of election commissioners shall enter\nthe fact of record, and the charter county commission shall organize the\ncharter county government or the county a nd each participating city shall\nprovide for the consolidation of services or functions as provided in the\ncomprehensive plan.\n(8) Subject to the restrictions in subsection (9) of this section, for the comprehensive\nplan to be adopted, it shall require bot h a majority of those residents voting within\nthe unincorporated area of the county to vote in favor of its adoption, and:\n(a) A majority of those residents voting within the city containing the largest\npopulation in the county, based on the most recent decennial census, to vote in\nfavor of its adoption; or\n(b) A majority of those residents voting, pursuant to subsection (9) of this section,\nwithin cities that together contain at least fifty percent (50%) of the population\nresiding within the incorporated a reas of the county, based on the most recent\ndecennial census, to vote in favor of its adoption.\n(9) (a) The votes shall be counted within each city to determine whether the majority\nof voters within each city are in favor of the adoption of the comprehens ive\nplan.\n(b) Each city where the majority of those voting are in favor of adopting the\ncomprehensive plan shall participate in the charter county government, subject\nto the requirements of subsection (8) of this section.\n(c) Each city where the majority o f those voting are not in favor of adopting the\ncomprehensive plan:\n1. Shall not participate in the charter county government;\n2. Shall remain incorporated unless dissolved in accordance with KRS\n81.094 and shall continue to exercise all powers and perform  the\nfunctions permitted by the Constitution and general laws of the\nCommonwealth of Kentucky applicable to the cities of the class to\nwhich they have been assigned; and\n3. Shall allow eligible voters within the city to vote for the chief executive\nofficer of the charter county government and the relevant legislative\nbody member or members of the charter county government for the area\nincluding the nonparticipating city.\n(10) If the comprehensive plan is not adopted, the same proposal shall not be submitted\nfor voter consideration for a period of five (5) years from the date of the election\nwherein the comprehensive plan failed to receive the requisite votes.","path":["KRS Chapter 67"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=41117","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:49:26Z","sha256":"ecd11c9e33f3536077b60cfc0f1e79596aab52281905942bf5edb12a8d6d4fc0","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-67.825","next":"us-ky/krs-67.832"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}