In the recent election the voters of Breathitt County elected to return to the four magistrate county fiscal court system.

Local government in Kentucky and around the nation is modeled after the old British system. This system provided for a fiscal court to be composed of a county judge later labeled as a county executive and a number of magistrates. They would conduct the fiscal affairs of the county as well as minor judicial matters. Other officials included a sheriff, constables, surveyor and jailer.

The counties were divided into magistratorial districts. Each magistrate was provided with a constable who served as his assistant in resolving minor crimes and disputes in his particular district. During this period before the state implemented the District Court System, magistrates were more consumed and focused with the events in their particular district than they were with solving countywide problems.

This system served our isolated communities very well when there were poor roads and transportation was limited to walking or riding horses or mules.

Kentucky has 120 counties. Only Texas and Georgia have more. This system of government is very expensive. Robertson County, for ex-ample, has less than two thousand inhabita-nts, with a number of magistrates and all the other county officials it is a tremendous expense to be born by so few citizens.

In recent decades many progressive counties have gone to a commission form of county government with a smaller number of court members, saving the taxpayers on salary expenses and focusing on county wide improvement instead of each member of the court being focused on their district and fighting and competing only for the available funds for their small district.

Previously incumbent unethical magistrates have able to expedite their efforts to remain in office by distributing unlawfully gravel and drain pipes on private property to their friends and supporters. The solid support of one precinct with several candidates splitting the opposition vote often insures his reelection.

In a county where there is an overwhelming majority of registered voters from one particular party, the safe guards provided by the two party system is virtually eliminated by adhering to the magistratorial system of county government because there is little county-wide accountability for court members other than the county executive or judge.

Hopefully the salary of the present three commis-sioners will be divided by four instead of three as they set the salary for court members who will be elected in 2010. This will save future taxpayers a bundle over the coming decades.

Needless to say your writer voted to keep our present commissioner form of government for the reasons stated above.

Bob Deaton

75 Person Dr.

Jackson, Kentucky 41339