When did ordinary bills from Kentucky's 2000 legislative session take effect?

Plain-English summary

Kentucky's 2000 regular legislative session ended on April 14. The Attorney General calculated when bills without an emergency clause or a specified later date would take effect under Section 55 of the state constitution. It excluded the day of adjournment, counted April 15 as day one, and counted July 13 as day 90. Once 90 full days had expired, those laws took effect at the first moment of July 14, 2000.

The calculation did not cover general appropriation bills or acts with their own emergency or delayed effective-date provisions. It answered a question about the 2000 session's date, not a general calendar for later sessions.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2000. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Q: What date did ordinary Kentucky laws from the 2000 session take effect? A: The opinion gave July 14, 2000, starting at the first moment of that day, for laws subject to Section 55's ordinary waiting period.

Q: Did the day the legislature adjourned count toward the 90 days? A: No. The Attorney General excluded April 14 and began counting on April 15, so the 90th full day was July 13.

Q: Did every bill passed in that session have the same effective date? A: No. The opinion excluded general appropriation bills and measures containing emergency or delayed effective-date provisions.

Background and statutory framework

Section 55 of Kentucky's constitution delayed most acts until 90 days after final adjournment and provided an emergency exception with specified legislative voting and journal requirements. The opinion applied the ordinary rule to the known adjournment date of the 2000 regular session. Its key counting point was that 90 full days had to pass after adjournment before the law became effective.

Citations and references

Authority: Constitution of Kentucky Section 55.

Source

• Landing page: https://kdla.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/IO_4800faf2-339a-4cda-aab7-b7e04758a657/
• Original PDF: https://kdla.access.preservica.com/download/file/IO_4800faf2-339a-4cda-aab7-b7e04758a657

Original opinion text

OAG 00-4
April 24, 2000
Subject:

Effective Date of Certain Legislation

Requested by:

Robert S. Sherman

Written by:

Gerard R. Gerhard

Syllabus:

In keeping with Section 55 of the Constitution of Kentucky, the effective date of legislation passed during the 2000 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly, other than general appropriation bills, and acts containing emergency or delayed effective date provisions, is the first moment of Friday, July 14, 2000.

Constitutional
provision construed:
OAGs cited:

Constitution of Kentucky Section 55

96-19

Opinion of the Attorney General
By letter of April 14, 2000, you asked, in substance, that this office advise on the effective date of legislation not involving an emergency or delayed effective date, passed during the 2000 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly. The legislature adjourned “sine die” on April 14, 2000.

OAG 00-4
Page 2

As discussed below, the effective date of legislation passed during the 2000 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly, other than general appropriation bills, and acts containing emergency or delayed effective date provisions, is the first moment of Friday, July 14, 2000. Section 55 of the Constitution of Kentucky provides: No act, except general appropriation bills, shall become a law until ninety days after the adjournment of the session at which it was passed, except in cases of emergency, when, by the concurrence of a majority of the members elected to each House of the General Assembly, by a yea and nay vote entered upon their journals, an act may become a law when approved by the governor, but the reasons for the emergency that justifies this action must be set out at length in the journal of each House. (Emphasis added.) “[U]ntil ninety days after the adjournment of the session,” as used in Section 55 of Kentucky’s Constitution (above), indicates that the day of adjournment (meaning the day of final adjournment for the session, termed “adjournment sine die”) is to be excluded in computing the 90 day period set forth in the above cited Constitutional provision, and that the 90th day shall be included in the period, in order that 90 full days shall have passed after adjournment of the session, before certain legislation becomes effective. See, for example, OAG 96-19. Applying the analysis described above to the 2000 Regular Session, the General Assembly having adjourned sine die on Friday, April 14, 2000, we find the following, regarding legislation other than general appropriation bills or acts containing emergency or delayed

OAG 00-4
Page 3

effective date provisions: The first day of the 90 day period after the session is Saturday, April 15, 2000, and the 90th day of that period is Thursday, July 13, 2000. Accordingly, when the last moment of that 90th day has expired, ninety full days will have passed after the adjournment sine die of the 2000 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly. It follows that legislation (except for general appropriation measures and those containing emergency or delayed effective date provisions) passed during the 2000 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly will be effective on the first moment of Friday, July 14, 2000. Albert B. Chandler III Attorney General

Gerard R. Gerhard
Assistant Attorney General

c: John M. Spangler
Reviser of Statutes
Legislative Research Commission