KRS § 83A.120 — KY Code / Title IX / Chapter 83A / Section 83A.120
83A.120 Procedure for referendum on public question
Status: in_force

83A.120 Procedure for referendum on public question.

(1) Any public question authorized by statute may be submitted to the voters of a city

by either a resolution of the city legislative body or a petition meeting the

requirements of this section. The resolution or petition shall set out in full the

matter to be considered. The proposal shall be drafted in such a way that a vote in

favor of adoption shall be a vote in favor of the effect or impact of the proposal.

(2) Any five (5) qualified voters of the city may commence petition proceedings by

filing with the county clerk an affidavit stating they constitute the petition

committee and will be responsible for circulating the petition and filing it in proper

form. The affidavit shall state their names and addresses and specify the address to

which all notices to the committee are to be sent. It shall set out in full the proposal

to be considered by the voters. Promptly after the affidavit of the petition committee

is filed, the county clerk shall notify the petition committee of all statutory

requirements for petitions under this section and shall deliver a copy of the affidavit

to the legislative body of the city.

(3) All papers of a petition shall be uniform in size and style and shall be assembled as

one instrument for filing. Each signature shall be executed in ink or indelible pencil

and shall be followed by the address of the person signing. Petitions shall be signed

by registered voters of the city equal in number to at least twenty percent (20%) of

the total number of votes cast in the city in the last presidential election. When it is

filed, each sheet of a petition shall have an affidavit executed by the circulator

stating that he personally circulated the sheet, the number of signatures thereon, that

all signatures were affixed in his presence, that he believes them to be the genuine

signatures of registered voters in the city and that each signer had an opportunity

before signing to read the full text of the proposal. Petitions shall contain or have

attached throughout their circulation the full text of the proposal.

(4) Within thirty (30) days after the petition is filed, the county clerk shall complete a

certificate as to its sufficiency, specifying, if it is insufficient, the particulars

wherein it is defective and shall send a copy to the petition committee and to the

city legislative body by registered mail. A petition certified insufficient for lack of

the required number of valid signatures may be amended once if the petition

committee files a notice of intention to amend it with the county clerk within five

(5) days after receiving the copy of his certificate and files a supplemental petition

upon additional sheets within thirty (30) days after receiving the certificate. The

supplemental petition shall comply with the requirements of subsection (3) and

within ten (10) days after it is filed the county clerk shall complete a certificate as to

the sufficiency of the petition as amended and promptly send a copy of the

certificate to the petition committee and to the city legislative body by certified

mail.

(5) A final determination as to the sufficiency of a petition shall be subject to review in

the Circuit Court of the county and shall be limited to the validity of the county

clerk's determination. A final determination of insufficiency shall not prejudice the

filing in accordance with this section of a new petition for the same purpose.

(6) If, not later than the second Tuesday in August preceding the day established for a

regular election, the county clerk receives a resolution requesting that the question

be submitted to the voters or certifies that a petition is sufficient, the county clerk

shall have prepared to place before the voters of the city at the next regular election

the question, which shall be "Are you in favor of the proposal entitled.....? Yes....

No... ." The county clerk shall cause to be published in accordance with KRS

Chapter 424, at the same time as the remaining voter information, the full text of the

proposal. The county clerk shall cause to be posted in each polling place one (1)

copy of the full text of the proposal.

(7) The provisions of general election law shall apply to public questions submitted to

voters under this section. The certificate of the body authorized by law to canvass

election returns shall be delivered to the mayor and the certificate shall be entered

upon the records of the city at the next regular meeting of the city legislative body.