FRANKFORT — The Kentucky Jailers Association and the jailers of Boyd and Carter counties have filed suit in an attempt to block the implementation of a jail authority that would oversee the operations of the lockups in both counties.

The suit, filed Tuesday in Franklin Circuit Court by the association, Boyd Jailer Joe Burchett and Carter Jailer R.W. Boggs, names as defendants the Northeastern Regional Jail Authority, the Boyd and Carter county fiscal courts and the Kentucky Department for Local Government.

In the seven-page complaint, plaintiffs’ attorney James Deckard argues the NRJA violates the “statutory framework” for a regional jail authority, which was created by the General Assembly in 1994; the duties of the jailers, established by statute and by the state constitution, are “unlawfully impeded” by the authority; and the Carter County Fiscal Court’s approval of the enabling legislation for the authority is invalid because the May 29 meeting at which first readings of the two measures were approved was in violation of the state’s Open Meetings Act.

The suit seeks a declaration of the plaintiffs’ rights, along with a final judgment incorporating those rights, plus all other relief to which the plaintiffs may be entitled.

 Deckard, of Lexington, served as chief of staff and counsel for former Kentucky Supreme Court Chief Justice Joseph E. Lambert, as general counsel for former Gov. Ernie Fletcher and as executive director of the Kentucky Bar Association. He recently filed an open-records complaint against the Carter County Fiscal Court with Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway’s office about the regional jail issue. The Attorney General’s Office found in Deckard’s favor, ruling the court had partially violated the state Open Records Act.

In the lawsuit, Deckard maintains the NRJA does not meet the state’s statutory definition for a regional jail authority. That’s because state law “limits the operation and maintenance of a regional jail to one jail that may be owned and operated by one county to hold prisoners for another county or a single jail owned and operated by two counties,” the complaint states.

Nothing in the law provides “for the operation of a regional jail authority that oversees and operates two existing jail facilities, or that oversees and operates jail facilities in two counties,” Deckard wrote.

“No other regional jail authority established in Kentucky has attempted to operate jail facilities in two separate counties,” the suit states.

The plaintiffs also contend the NRJA is a violation of the Kentucky Constitution because it usurps the authority of the elected jailers, which are assigned by the constitution, and membership of the board of the NRJA violates state law because Boggs isn’t included on it.

The NRJA states the authority would be based in Boyd County and the jailer in its home county — Burchett — would have a seat on the board. However, it does not provide one for the Carter jailer.

According to the suit, state law also requires agreements establishing regional jail authorities be reviewed and approved by the Department of Local Government. Deckard maintains the department cannot give its stamp of approval to the NRJA “as the same is unlawful” under state statutes.

Additionally, the plaintiffs contend Carter County Fiscal Court’s first readings and approval of the ordinances establishing the NRJA are invalid because the meeting at which those actions took place violated the state’s Open Meetings Act because of the court’s refusal to move the meeting to a larger room better able to accommodate the overflow crowd that showed up for it.

The court’s refusal to move the meeting violated the portion of the law that requires government agencies to have meetings in places “convenient to the public” and “provide meeting room conditions” that allow “effective public observation” of the meeting, the suit states.

Because the first readings of the measures took place at an illegal meeting, the Carter County Fiscal Court’s second readings and approval, which took place on July 25, also are invalid “as a matter of law,” the suit states.

The May 29 meeting is also the subject of a lawsuit filed last month in Carter Circuit Court by Carter County resident Renee Stewart and County Attorney Patrick Flannery. That suit essentially is an appeal of an attorney general’s ruling stating the AG’s office was unable to conclude from the evidence at hand Carter Judge-Executive Charles Wallace’s refusal to move the meeting constituted an Open Meetings act violation.

Stewart and Flannery also contend in their suit, which also seeks invalidation of the NRJA legislation, many in the audience couldn’t hear what was being said because the microphones in the court’s meeting room were turned off, and requests to turn them on were “refused repeatedly without explanation.”

In a letter to Wallace outlining why she believed the court had violated the Open Meetings Act., Stewart also said several left the meeting because they could not see or hear what was taking place from the hallway, and one of the church-style pews in the room broke under the weight of the large number sitting on it.

Claims made in civil lawsuits state only one side of an issue. Under the law, the defendants have 20 days from the dates they are served to file responses to the complaint.

KENNETH HART can be reached at khart@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2654.