Whether a county can contract with a for-profit entity to provide an animal shelter or animal control officer

OAG 15-002 January 23, 2015 Subject: Whether a county can contract with a for-profit entity to provide an animal shelter or animal control officer Requested by: Rep. Joni Jenkins Written by: Matt James Syllabus: A county may only contract with a governmental or non-profit entity to operate an animal shelter. A county may contract with a for-profit entity to provide an animal control officer. Statutes construed: KRS 258.095 Opinion of the Attorney General Rep. Joni Jenkins has requested an opinion of this office regarding whether a county may contract with a for-profit entity to provide an animal shelter or animal control officer. We advise that a county may only contract with a governmental or non-profit entity to provide an animal shelter, but may contract with a for-profit entity to provide an animal control officer. KRS 258.195(1) provides that “the governing body of each county shall employ, appoint, or contract with an animal control officer, or shall contract with an entity that employs, appoints, or contracts with an animal control officer, and shall establish and maintain an animal shelter.” KRS 258.095(13) provides that “‘animal shelter’ means any facility used to house or contain animals, operated or maintained by a governmental body, incorporated humane society, animal welfare society, society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, or other nonprofit organization.” KRS 258.085(13) defines an animal shelter as a facility to contain animals operated by a governmental body or other nonprofit organization. “It is a primary rule of statutory construction that the enumeration of particular things excludes ideas of something else not mentioned.” Lewis v. Jackson Energy Co-op. Corp., 189 S.W.3d 87, 91 (Ky. 2005). KRS 258.095(13) lists only government and non-profit entities. It must be presumed that since the legislature enumerated the entities which may operate an animal shelter, and only included government and non-profit entities, that for-profit entities are excluded. Accordingly, a county may only contract with a governmental or non-profit entity to provide an animal shelter. While animal shelters are required to be operated by either a governmental or non-profit entity, a county may contract with a for-profit entity to provide an animal control officer. KRS 258.095(8) provides that: “Animal control officer” means an individual who is employed or appointed by, or has contracted with: A city, county, urban-county, charter county, or consolidated local government to enforce the provisions of this chapter, the provisions of the Kentucky Revised Statutes relating to cruelty, mistreatment, or torture of animals, and local animal control ordinances; or An entity that has contracted with a city, county, urban-county, charter county, or consolidated local government to enforce the provisions of this chapter, the provisions of the Kentucky Revised Statutes relating to cruelty, mistreatment, or torture of animals, and local animal control ordinances. KRS 258.095(8) defines an animal control officer as an individual employed by a local government or an entity that has contracted with a local government to enforce animal control laws. KRS 258.095(8) does not contain the same restrictions as KRS 258.095(13), in that it does not specify that the animal control officer must be employed by a non-profit entity. Accordingly, a county may contract with either a non-profit or a for-profit entity to provide an animal control officer. In summary, an animal shelter must be operated by either a governmental or non-profit entity. An animal control officer may be provided by a governmental, non-profit, or for-profit entity. JACK CONWAY ATTORNEY GENERAL Matt James Assistant Attorney General OAG 15-002 Page 2