Opinion ID: 2281590
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: compliance with krs 278.420(2)

Text: The PSC and Bluegrass Wireless argue that the Court of Appeals erred in determining that the Shadoans had complied with the statutory requirements of KRS 278.420(2) for designation of the record. They maintain that, because the Shadoans did not timely file a formal designation of the record in the Franklin Circuit Court, that court did not have jurisdiction over the petition for review and thus should have dismissed the case. KRS 278.420(2) provides: Unless an agreed statement of the record is filed with the court, the filing party shall designate, within ten (10) days after an action is filed, the portions of the record necessary to determine the issues raised in the action. Within ten (10) days after the service of the designation or within ten (10) days after the court enters an order permitting any other party to intervene in the action, whichever occurs last, any other party to the action may designate additional portions for filing. The court may enlarge the ten (10) day period where cause is shown. Additionally, the court may require or permit subsequent corrections or additions to the record. This Court has recently addressed the issue of compliance with KRS 278.420(2) in Louisville Gas and Electric Company v. Hardin and Meade County Property Owners for Co-Location, 319 S.W.3d 397 (Ky.2010), wherein we reaffirmed the doctrine of strict compliance with regard to administrative appeals. In Louisville Gas and Electric Company, the petitioners failed to designate the record or file a motion for enlargement of time within the ten-day period in KRS 278.420(2). We held that the failure to timely designate the record was jurisdictional, and thus fatal to the petition for review, reasoning: Under the statutory scheme of KRS Chapter 278, the legislature requires two things to invoke the jurisdiction of the circuit court over appeals of public service commission ordersthe timely filing of the action in the Franklin Circuit Court and the timely filing of the designation of the record. KRS 278.410; KRS 278.420.... The designation of the record is especially important in administrative appeals because of the voluminous record frequently produced by the administrative proceedings. The designation of the record serves notice of those relevant portions of the record for the appeal and serves to narrow the record for appellate review, presumably for purposes of judicial economy. Id. at 401. There is, however, a distinguishing factor in the instant case. Unlike Louisville Gas and Electric Company, there is no evidentiary record from the administrative proceedings in the present case, and the sole issue on review is one of law. In Louisville Gas and Electric Company, It [was] undisputed that the issues to be decided in the appeal required designation of some portion(s) of the administrative record in order to decide the appeal. Id. Moreover, in the present case, the Shadoans attached the August 8, 2006 opinion and order denying their motion for rehearing to their complaint. So, while the Shadoans did not file a separate document specifically entitled a Designation of Record, they did file in the record the actual document from the administrative proceedings disposing of the sole issue before the PSC. In so doing, they served notice of the only portion of the administrative record necessary and relevant to the issue on appeal. Accordingly, we adjudge that the Shadoans complied with KRS 278.420(2).