IMPORITANT NOTICE 
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED OPINION 
THIS OPINION IS DESIGNATED "NOT TO BE 
PUBLISHED. " PURSUANT TO THE RULES OF 
CIVIL PROCEDURE PROMULGATED BY THE 
,SUPREME COURT, CR ?'6.28 (4) (c), THIS OPINION 
IS NOT TO BE PUBLISHED AND SHALL NOT BE 
CITED OR USED AS AUTHORITY IN ANY OTHER 
CASE IN ANY COURT OF THIS STATE.

MARTHA VARNEY               APPELLANT
V
EDDY COLEMAN, JUDGE, PIKE CIRCUIT COURT,                   APPELLEES
AND KENTUCKY UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE
COMMISSION
AND 
BURNS INTERNATIONAL SECURITY 
SERVICES CORPORATION 
2004-SC-0308-MR 
APPEAL FROM COURT OF APPEALS 
2004-CA-0176-OA 
PIKE CIRCUIT COURT NO . 2003-CI-0169 
EDDY COLEMAN, JUDGE, PIKE CIRCUIT COURT, 
AND KENTUCKY UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE 
COMMISSION 
MEMORANDUM OPINION OF THE COURT 
AFFIRMING 
RENDERED: OCTOBER 21, 2004 
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED 
APPELLANT 
APPELLEES 
REAL PARTY IN INTEREST 

Appellant, Martha Varney, appealed a decision of the Kentucky Unemployment 
Insurance Commission ("the Commission") to the Pike Circuit Court . The complaint 
was not sworn to under oath . The statute enabling the appeal requires that the 
complaint be verified . The Court of Appeals concluded that this was a failure to verify 
the complaint as required by KRS 341 .450. Thus, it held that the circuit court did not 
have jurisdiction over the case. We agree that verification is a prerequisite to 
jurisdiction and, therefore, affirm the Court of Appeals .

Varney worked for Burns International Security Services Corporation for almost 
two years before she was discharged from her job. She then filed for unemployment 
insurance benefits . She received benefits until the Commission held a hearing on her 
application. The Commission denied her request. 

Varney sought judicial review of the decision by filing a complaint in the Pike 
Circuit Court. After the complaint was served on Burns, Burns moved to dismiss the 
complaint on grounds that the complaint did not comply with the requirements of KRS 
341 .450 . Varney responded by filing an amended complaint, which the circuit court 
allowed . Burns then petitioned the Court of Appeals for a writ to prohibit the trial court 
from proceeding further in the case and to order it to strike the amended complaint and 
dismiss the action with prejudice . The Court of Appeals granted the writ. Varney 
appeals that decision as a matter of right. 

Varney persuasively argues that a verified complaint is not a jurisdictional 
requirement under the Civil Rules. But when reviewing a decision from an 
administrative agency, the civil rules do not apply until the reviewing court's jurisdiction 
has been properly invoked . Board of Adjustments of City of Richmond v. Flood, Ky., 
581 S .W .2d 1, 2 (1978). Strict compliance with the statutory requirement for appealing 
an administrative agency's decision is necessary to invoke the reviewing court's 
jurisdiction . A long line of cases hold that a verified complaint is one of these 
requirements when seeking review of a ruling by the Commission under KRS 341 .450. 
See, e .,9_, Fisher v. Kentucky Unemployment Insurance Commission, Ky. App., 880 
S .W .2d 891 (1994); Pickhart v. United States Post Office, Ky. App., 664 S .W.2d 939 
(1983). A verified complaint must be sworn to under oath. 3 Am. Jur. 2d Affidavits § 8 
(online ed . May 2004 update) . The complaint in this case was not sworn to; it was not
verified . Consequently, the requirements for invoking the trial court's jurisdiction were 
not met. We therefore affirm the Court of Appeals. 

All concur.