The Department of Public Safety shall be organized into a Division of Police, a Division of Building Inspection, a Division of Fire Protection, a Division of Detention, a Division of Animal Control, a Division of Civil Defense, and such other divisions as the Council may prescribe.
The Division of Police shall be responsible for general law enforcement in the Urban County and shall be organized and equipped to provide general police services throughout the General Services District and such additional police services as may be deemed necessary for the protection of lives and property in the Full Urban Services District. The Director of said division shall hold the rank of Chief of Police and shall be professionally trained and experienced in the art and sciences of police work.
The Division of Fire Protection shall be responsible for the provision of fire prevention and protection services in the Urban County, and shall be organized and equipped to provide general fire protection services throughout the General Services District and such additional fire services as may be deemed necessary for the protection of lives and property in the Full Urban Services District. The Director of said division shall hold the rank of Fire Chief and shall be professionally trained and experienced in the operation and management of fire prevention and protection services.
The Division of Detention shall be responsible for the detention and security of all prisoners assigned to the custody of the Merged Government under law, excepting those assigned to the care and custody of the Division of Juvenile Detention and Probation pursuant to Section 6.09 of this Charter. The Division of Detention shall be responsible for the operation of the County Jail and the City of Lexington Jail (workhouse). The latter shall be designated as a county workhouse under the provisions of KRS 441.070 thru 441.205. The County Jailer, elected under the provisions of Section 11.07 of this Charter, shall be designated as the Director of the Division of Detention.
The Division of Building Inspection shall perform all of the duties and functions pertaining to the inspection and safety of buildings and other structures performed by the Department of Building Inspection of the City of Lexington on the effective date of this Charter. Said division shall administer and enforce all zoning ordinances.
The Division of Animal Control shall enforce all laws and ordinances pertaining to the licensing, inspection and control of animals in the General Services District, which shall be the same as those imposed by order of the Fayette County Fiscal Court on the effective date of this Charter, and the Full Urban Services District, which shall be the same as those imposed by the City of Lexington on the effective date of this Charter. The Director of said division shall be designated as the county dog warden under the provisions of KRS 258.195, and shall coordinate the activities of the Division of Animal Control with the county livestock inspector to be appointed by the Council in accordance with the provisions of KRS 257.280.
The Division of Civil Defense shall be charged with the operation and administration of a civil defense program for a Merged Government in accordance with the state civil defense plan and program. The Director of said division shall be appointed by the Mayor in accordance with the provisions of KRS 39.415 until such time as the General Assembly may provide for the Director of Civil Defense in an urban county government to be covered by civil service.
Annotation—(1) Additional fire and police protection have been deleted as additional urban services. See note at Section 2.08.
(2) Ordinance No. 52-76 deleted and abolished the division of detention from the department of public safety. Subsequently, the office of jailer was abolished effective January 3, 1994, by 1990 Ky. Acts Ch. 138, and pursuant to that Act the division of detention was recreated by Ordinance No. 238-93.
(3) Resolution No. 250-75 and Ordinance No. 25-76 had the effect of deleting the division of animal control from the department of public safety and placed that service with the Lexington Humane Society. Too, the Lexington Humane Society was appointed Fayette County Dog Warden pursuant to Resolution No. 286-91. Further, KRS 257.280, relating to the county livestock inspector, was repealed by 1978 Ky. Acts Ch. 118, § 19, effective June 17, 1978.
(4) KRS 39.415, relating to civil defense, was repealed by 1998 Ky. Acts Ch. 226, § 113, effective July 15, 1998.