Kentucky's counties are grouped into 15 regions known as Area Development Districts, or ADD's (see map). Although they are public bodies under Kentucky law, the ADD's are not State agencies nor are they another level of government. Instead, the ADD's should be thought of as partnerships of local units of government. Locally-elected officials and citizen members comprise the ADD boards of directors. The ADD staffs are made up of professionals with a wide range of backgrounds in such areas as economic development, human services, management, and planning. By sharing the expertise found on the ADD staffs, local governments are collectively able to afford the professional staff that many counties and cities could not afford by themselves.

How were the ADD's established?
The boundaries of the ADD's were first set by executive order of the Governor. On March 30, 1967, Gov. Breathitt signed Executive Order 67-233, which divided the state into 15 multi-county regions for planning purposes. Gov. Nunn's Executive Order 71-1267, signed November 16, 1971, established the Area Development Districts as the official regional planning and development agencies for their respective areas. Then, the 1972 Kentucky General Assembly enacted legislation (now found in KRS 147A.050-.140) which set up the ADD's as public agencies and provided for their basic organizational structure.

What do ADD's do?
ADD's are a means by which local elected officials and citizens unite to provide for the planned growth of their area. An ADD is therefore a regional organization that assists in the formulation and implementation of human resource and infrastructure related plans.

It must be emphasized that the plans and recommendations made by an ADD represent professional advice only. ADD's are not regulatory agencies, nor do they have the power to force compliance with their plans. A good example of this role is the Kentucky Intergovernmental Review Process (KIRP). Established by Presidential order, this process requires most applications for Federal funding to be reviewed through a "single point of contact" in each state. In Kentucky, the Department of Local Government contains that point of contact which seeks comments from the ADD's on projects affecting their respective areas. Federal agencies are required to take into account the advisory comments of state, regional, and local agencies before funding a given project.

In addition to its regional planning role, an ADD (through its staff) also provides technical and management assistance to local communities on a broad range of topics. To name but a few: help is given to local economic development agencies and to planning commissions; applications are prepared seeking funding for a wide variety of public projects; assistance is provided in meeting administrative requirements of various Federal and State programs; and public management assistance is rendered so that local governments may upgrade their levels of service.