KRS § 39A.020 — KY Code / Title V / Chapter 39A / Section 39A.020
39A.020 Definitions for KRS Chapters 39A to 39F
Status: in_force

39A.020 Definitions for KRS Chapters 39A to 39F.

As used in KRS Chapters 39A to 39F, unless the context requires otherwise:

(1) "Adjutant General" means the executive head of the Department of Military

Affairs vested with general direction and control authority for the department

and the division of emergency management;

(2) "Catastrophe" means a disaster or series of concurrent disasters which

adversely affect the entire Commonwealth of Kentucky or a major geographical

portion thereof;

(3) "Chief executive officer" means a:

(a) County judge/executive of a county;

(b) Mayor of a consolidated local government;

(c) Mayor of an urban-county government;

(d) Chief executive officer of a charter county government;

(e) Chief executive officer of a unified local government; or

(f) Mayor of a city;

(4) "Comprehensive emergency management program" means the public safety

program developed, organized, implemented, administered, maintained, and

coordinated by the Division of Emergency Management and local emergency

management agencies created pursuant to the provisions of KRS Chapters

39A to 39F, to assess, mitigate, prepare for, respond to, or recover from, an

emergency, declared emergency, disaster, or catastrophe, or threat of any of

those, as contemplated in KRS 39A.010 or as defined in this section;

(5) "Coordination" means having and exercising primary state or local executive

branch oversight for the purpose of organizing, planning, and implementing;

(6) "County" means a county, urban-county government, charter county

government, consolidated local government, or unified local government;

(7) "Declared emergency" means any incident or situation declared to be an

emergency, disaster, or catastrophe by executive order of the Governor, or a

county judge/executive, or a mayor, or the chief executive of other local

governments in the Commonwealth pursuant to the provisions of KRS

Chapters 39A to 39F;

(8) "Director" means the director of the Division of Emergency Management of the

Department of Military Affairs;

(9) "Disaster" means any incident or situation declared as such by executive

action of the Governor, or the President of the United States, pursuant to

federal law;

(10) "Disaster and emergency response" means the performance of all emergency

functions, other than war-related functions for which military forces are primarily

responsible, including but not limited to: direction and control, incident

command, or management; communications; fire protection services; police

services; medical and health services; ambulance services; rescue; search and

rescue or recovery; urban search and rescue; engineering; alerting and

warning services; resource management; public works services; nuclear,

chemical, biological, or other hazardous material or substance monitoring,

containment, decontamination, neutralization, and disposal; emergency worker

protection, site safety, site operations and response planning; evacuation of

persons; emergency welfare services; emergency transportation; physical plant

protection; temporary restoration of public utility services; emergency lighting

and power services; emergency public information; incident investigation,

hazards analysis, and damage assessment; and other functions related to

effective reaction to a disaster or emergency or catastrophe, or the potential,

threatened, or impending threat of any disaster or emergency or catastrophe,

together with all other activities necessary or incidental to the preparation for

and carrying out of the functions set out in this subsection;

(11) "Division" means the Division of Emergency Management of the Department of

Military Affairs;

(12) "Emergency" means any incident or situation which poses a major threat to

public safety so as to cause, or threaten to cause, loss of life, serious injury,

significant damage to property, or major harm to public health or the

environment;

(13) (a) "Executive action" means:

1. All orders and guidelines related to a COVID-19 declared

emergency issued by the Governor or any state agency, the

President of the United States or any federal agency, or a local

governmental agency; and

2. Industry-specific guidelines related to a COVID-19 declared

emergency adopted by a state agency that govern the industry; and

(b) "Executive action":

1. Does not mean informal or indefinite statements or

recommendations made by government officials; and

2. Does not create a duty of care;

(14) "Integrated emergency management system" means the unified and

multidisciplinary disaster and emergency response infrastructure developed in

the Commonwealth, under the coordination of the division, using methods

which align state or local administrative, organizational, and operational

resources, to accomplish the mission, goals, and objectives of the

comprehensive emergency management program of the Commonwealth;

(15) "Local disaster and emergency services organization" means that organization

of public and private entities developed to carry out the multiagency disaster

and emergency response of a city, county, urban-county or charter county

pursuant to KRS Chapters 39A to 39F;

(16) "Local emergency management agency" means the agency created, operated,

and maintained to coordinate the local comprehensive emergency

management program and disaster and emergency response of a city, county,

and urban-county or charter county government pursuant to KRS Chapters

39A to 39F;

(17) "Local emergency management director" or "Local director" means the

executive head of the local emergency management agency, appointed

pursuant to the provisions of KRS Chapters 39A to 39F;

(18) "State emergency management agency" means the Division of Emergency

Management of the Department of Military Affairs; and

(19) "State emergency management director" means the director of the Division of

Emergency Management.