179.020 County road engineer or supervisor. (1) The county judge/executive of each county, with the consent of the fiscal court, may employ a county road engineer. Any person so employed shall be either a civil or highway engineer licensed in accordance with KRS Chapter 322, or a person who successfully passed an examination for county road engineer under this section prior to March 24, 1950, and who qualified and served as such. (2) If the fiscal court does not provide for a county road engineer, the duties of the county road engineer, except insofar as they may be in conflict with the provisions of KRS Chapter 322, shall be performed by a county road supervisor, who shall be employed by the county judge/executive with the consent of the fiscal court, and who may be removed in the same manner provided for county road engineers. No person shall be employed as county road supervisor unless he meets the following requirements: (a) He has at least three (3) years' practical road building experience of a nature satisfactory to examining authorities selected by the Department of Highways for the Commonwealth of Kentucky; and (b) He has passed an examination, either oral or written, or both, given by the examining authorities, and has received a certificate of qualification from the authorities. (3) The county surveyor may be employed as county road engineer, if qualified under subsection (1) of this section, or as county road supervisor if qualified under subsection (2) of this section, and for his services as engineer or supervisor he shall receive a salary in addition to fees allowed by law for his services as county surveyor. (4) When no qualified applicant who is acceptable to the fiscal court is available for employment, the county judge/executive, with the consent of the fiscal court, may employ a temporary supervisor not qualified under subsection (2) of this section for a period of three (3) months, but in no event shall a temporary supervisor be used for more than three (3) months during any one (1) term of a county judge/executive. (5) This section shall not be construed to prohibit the supervision of the construction and maintenance of roads, without additional compensation, by the county judge/executive, or by committees of the fiscal court, in counties where the position of road engineer or road supervisor has not been established by the fiscal court. (6) Two (2) or more counties, by a contract approved by order of the fiscal court of each of the counties, may authorize the county judges/executive of the contracting counties to employ the same employee as county road engineer or county road supervisor to serve in all counties so contracting, and for the apportionment of the amount of his salary to be paid by each county. (7) The period of employment for any county road engineer or county road supervisor shall be two (2) or four (4) years, in the discretion of the fiscal court, beginning with the second Tuesday in January of an odd-numbered year. Other terms of employment, and the salaries of all persons employed under the provisions of this section, shall be fixed by the fiscal court. (8) Those persons serving as a county road engineer or supervisor on July 15, 1998, shall continue to serve in that capacity until the second Tuesday in January of 1999, at which time the position of county road engineer or supervisor shall be reappointed for a period of employment as provided in subsection (7) of this section. Effective: July 15, 1998 History: Amended 1998 Ky. Acts ch. 418, sec. 1, effective July 15, 1998. -- Amended 1966 Ky. Acts ch. 255, sec. 165. -- Amended 1950 Ky. Acts ch. 31, sec. 1. -- Recodified 1942 Ky. Acts ch. 208, sec. 1, effective October 1, 1942, from Ky. Stat. sec. 4325.