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Henderson County, KY
 
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
[HISTORY: Adopted by the Fiscal Court of Henderson County 5-14-1973 by Ord. No. 1 (Ch. 30 of the 1993 Code). Amendments noted where applicable.]
For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning:
COUNTY ATTORNEY
That individual defined by the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Kentucky and whose powers and authorities are governed by the various chapters and sections of the Kentucky Revised Statutes, including but not limited to KRS Chapter 69.
COUNTY JUDGE/EXECUTIVE
That individual defined by the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Kentucky and whose powers and authorities are governed by the various chapters and sections of the Kentucky Revised Statutes, including but not limited to KRS Chapter 67.
FISCAL COURT
That body of County government defined in Section 144 of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, whose powers and composition are enumerated in KRS Chapter 67.
MEMORIAL
An act of the Fiscal Court which is designed to commemorate an individual, a person, or an entity.
ORDINANCE
An act of the Fiscal Court which is designed and intended by the Court to carry the force and effect of a law of Henderson County.
PETITION
An act of the Fiscal Court which is required by law of the Commonwealth of Kentucky to take the form of a petition from or by County government.
RESOLUTION
Any act of the Fiscal Court which is not an ordinance, a memorial, or a petition.
[Added 7-18-1989 by Ord. No. 18; amended by order of County Judge/Executive 5-25-1993; 11-18-2014 by Ord. No. 14-05; 10-12-2021 by Ord. No. 21-07]
A. 
All regular meetings of the Henderson County Fiscal Court shall be held in the Fiscal Courtroom at the Courthouse, Henderson, Kentucky, at the hour of 9:30 a.m. prevailing time.
B. 
At the first regular meeting of the calendar year, which shall be held on the second Tuesday of each calendar year, the County Judge/Executive shall fix the dates for the regular meetings for the year by an order of record. Prior to the next regular meeting, the complete regular meeting schedule shall be posted in a conspicuous place near the Fiscal Courtroom, shall be available upon request at the Office of the Judge/Executive and shall be posted on the County's website.
C. 
Special meetings may be held after notice is given as required by KRS 61.823 and KRS Chapter 424, which notice shall contain the purpose of the meeting.
[Amended 10-12-2021 by Ord. No. 21-07]
A. 
The agenda for each regular meeting of the Fiscal Court shall be distributed to members of the Fiscal Court, news media, and all others who have requested to receive meeting notices at least 24 hours in advance.
B. 
The County Judge shall prepare an itemized list of all valid bills requiring Fiscal Court approval. Such list shall accompany the agenda prepared and delivered by the County Judge pursuant to Subsection A above.
C. 
No bill shall be approved for payment unless contained in the itemized list for the meeting.
D. 
A majority of the Fiscal Court members may vote to forgo Subsection C and approve payment of bills not included on the itemized list as long as the bill is presented to Fiscal Court.
E. 
The Fiscal Court may approve payment of the list of valid bills as a whole unless there is an objection voiced to any specific item.
A. 
No action embraced in the term "County ordinance" may be taken except by passage of a County ordinance. Other official actions, including but not limited to approval required by the Fiscal Court, may be taken by resolution, order or motion.
B. 
All ordinances shall be introduced in writing.
C. 
No County ordinance shall relate to more than one subject, and each ordinance shall be prefaced in the following manner by a title which expresses that subject: "AN ORDINANCE relating to (the subject of the ordinance)."
D. 
There shall be inserted between the title and the body of each County ordinance an enacting clause written in the following manner: "Be it ordained by the Fiscal Court of County of Henderson, Commonwealth of Kentucky."
E. 
County ordinances shall be amended by ordinance and only by setting out in full each amended section.
F. 
No action of the Fiscal Court shall be invalidated because of improper denomination of a County ordinance or other written document, if the procedures required for taking the action have otherwise been observed.
The regular enactment procedure for ordinances shall be as follows:
A. 
No County ordinance shall be passed until it has been read on two separate days, but ordinances may be read by title and a summary only. A proposed ordinance may be amended by the Fiscal Court after its first reading and prior to its adoption. All amendments shall be proposed in writing, and only by setting out in full each amended section.
B. 
No County ordinance shall be passed until it has been published pursuant to KRS Chapter 424. Prior to passage, ordinances may be published by summary. Publication shall include the time, date and place at which the County ordinance will be considered, and a place within the County where a copy of the full text of the proposed ordinance is available for public inspection. Publication of amendments to a proposed ordinance shall be required, pursuant to KRS Chapter 424, prior to its adoption, and amendments shall be filed with the full text of the proposed ordinance that is available for public inspection. If consideration for passage is continued from the initial meeting to a subsequent date, no further publication shall be necessary if at each meeting the time, date and place of the next meeting are announced.
C. 
All County ordinances and amendments shall be published after passage and may be published in full or in summary form at the discretion of the Fiscal Court. If applicable, a sketch, drawing or map, together with a narrative description written in layman's terms, may be used in lieu of metes-and-bounds descriptions. If published in summary form, publication shall contain notice of a place in the County where the full text of the ordinance or amendment is available for public inspection.
D. 
Traffic, building, housing, plumbing, electrical, safety and other self-contained codes may be adopted by reference if a copy of the code is kept with the adopting ordinance and is made a part of the permanent records of the County (KRS 67.077).
A. 
Unless otherwise provided by statute, a majority of the Fiscal Court shall constitute a quorum and a majority of a quorum shall be sufficient to take action, except that a majority of the Fiscal Court shall be required to pass an ordinance. No meeting shall be held by the Fiscal Court without notice to all members thereof.
B. 
A majority of the Fiscal Court may declare an emergency to exist by naming and describing the emergency, and thereafter may adopt a County ordinance to address that emergency without regard to the requirements of KRS 67.077.
C. 
All County ordinances and other official action shall state the effective date thereof (KRS 67.078).
The Fiscal Court shall cause all ordinances passed by it to be fairly recorded in the journal of proceedings and, in addition thereto, there shall be published, beginning with 1973, a complete compilation of the ordinances of the County, which shall be known as the "Code of Henderson County."
Resolutions, memorials or petitions shall require only one reading and may be passed at the meeting in which they are initially read.