(1) Any officer who prevents, attempts to prevent or obstructs an examination by the Auditor, under the provisions of paragraph (c) of subsection (2) of KRS § 43.050, or of subsection (3) of KRS § 43.050, into his official conduct, or the conduct or condition of the office in his charge or with which he is connected, except when the office constitutes a state agency, is guilty of a high misdemeanor, and, upon conviction on indictment in the Franklin Circuit Court, shall be fined five hundred dollars ($500) and removed by the Governor. Any person, other than an officer, who prevents, attempts to prevent or obstructs such an examination shall be fined one thousand dollars ($1,000).
(2) If the Auditor fails or refuses without good cause to perform the duties imposed upon him by KRS § 43.060, he shall be fined not less than two hundred and fifty dollars ($250) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each offense.

Terms Used In Kentucky Statutes 43.990

  • Auditor: means the Auditor of Public Accounts. See Kentucky Statutes 43.010
  • Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
  • Indictment: The formal charge issued by a grand jury stating that there is enough evidence that the defendant committed the crime to justify having a trial; it is used primarily for felonies.
  • Month: means calendar month. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010
  • State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes territories, outlying possessions, and the District of Columbia. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010
  • State agency: means any state officer, department, board, commission, institution, division, or other person or functional group that is authorized to exercise or does exercise any executive or administrative jurisdiction, powers, duties, rights or obligations of the state government conferred or imposed by law or exercised, performed, or discharged by legal authority in compliance with law. See Kentucky Statutes 43.010
  • Sworn: includes "affirmed" in all cases in which an affirmation may be substituted for an oath. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010
  • Testify: Answer questions in court.

(3) Any county officer who prevents, attempts to prevent or obstructs an examination by the Auditor, under KRS § 43.070, into his official conduct, or the conduct or condition of the office in his charge or with which he is connected, is guilty of a high misdemeanor, and shall, upon indictment and conviction in the Franklin Circuit Court, be fined five hundred dollars ($500). Any person, other than a county officer, who prevents, attempts to prevent or obstructs such an examination shall be fined one thousand dollars ($1,000).
(4) Any officer or other person who fails or refuses to permit the access and examination provided for in subsection (1) of KRS § 43.080, or who interferes with such examination, shall be fined not less than one hundred dollars ($100), or imprisoned in the county jail for not less than one (1) month nor more than twelve (12) months, or both. Each refusal by an officer shall constitute a separate offense.
(5) Any person who has custody of any papers, books or records of an asylum, prison, institution for the intellectually disabled or eleemosynary institution or public works, other than a state agency, that the Auditor is authorized to examine under paragraph (c) of subsection (2) of KRS § 43.050, under subsection (3) of KRS
43.050, and under subsection (2) of KRS § 43.080, who fails or refuses, when called upon by the Auditor for that purpose, to permit him to inspect any of such papers, books or records, shall, upon conviction on indictment in the Franklin Circuit Court, be fined not more than five hundred dollars ($500) and be subject to removal by the Governor.
(6) Any person who refuses to be sworn when required by the Auditor to be sworn for the purpose mentioned in subsection (3) of KRS § 43.080 shall be fined not more than one hundred dollars ($100).
(7) Any witness called by the Auditor under subsection (4) of KRS § 43.080 who fails, without legal excuse, to attend or testify shall be fined not more than two hundred and fifty dollars ($250).
Effective: July 15, 2010
History: Amended 2010 Ky. Acts ch. 141, sec. 5, effective July 15, 2010. — Amended
1980 Ky. Acts ch. 348, sec. 1, effective July 15, 1980. — Amended 1978 Ky. Acts ch.
92, sec. 3, effective June 17, 1978. — Recodified 1942 Ky. Acts ch. 208, sec. 1,
effective October 1, 1942, from Ky. Stat. secs. 150, 4618-136, 4625, 4626, 4628,
4629, 4635, 4636-2, 4636-3.