When did ordinary bills from Kentucky's 2005 legislative session take effect?

Plain-English summary

The Director of Kentucky's Legislative Research Commission asked when ordinary laws passed in the 2005 regular session would become effective. The Attorney General calculated the date as the first moment of Monday, June 20, 2005. The General Assembly finally adjourned on March 21. Excluding that day, the 90th full day was Sunday, June 19; once that day ended, 90 full days had passed.

The answer excluded general appropriation measures and acts containing emergency or delayed effective-date provisions. It was a historical calculation for the 2005 session, not a date for later sessions.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2005. 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: When did ordinary 2005 Kentucky session laws take effect? A: The AG calculated the first moment of June 20, 2005, for acts without a special effective-date provision and outside the general appropriation exception.

Q: Did the 90-day count include the adjournment day? A: No. The opinion excluded March 21, 2005, the day of final adjournment, and counted March 22 as day one.

Q: Did this date apply to emergency and delayed-effective-date acts? A: No. The AG expressly excluded acts with those provisions, as well as general appropriation measures.

Background and statutory framework

The opinion applied Section 55 of the Kentucky Constitution, which used the phrase “until ninety days after the adjournment.” It counted 90 complete days after final adjournment on March 21, 2005, and identified June 20 as the first day after that period.

Citations and references

Constitution: Section 55, Constitution of Kentucky.

Prior opinion: OAG 04-002.

Source

• Landing page: https://kdla.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/IO_7cea1b29-a343-477a-92e4-3eef59f81869/
• Original PDF: https://kdla.access.preservica.com/download/file/IO_7cea1b29-a343-477a-92e4-3eef59f81869

Original opinion text

OAG 05-004
March 24, 2005

Opinion of the Attorney General

Subject:

Effective Date of Certain Legislation Passed During the 2005 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly.

Requested by:

Robert S. Sherman, Director
Legislative Research Commission.

Written by:

Gerard R. Gerhard, Assistant Attorney General.

Syllabus:

In accordance with Section 55 of the Constitution of Kentucky, the effective date of legislation passed by the 2005 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly, except for general appropriation measures and those containing emergency or delayed effective date provisions, is the first moment of Monday, June 20, 2005, since 90 full days will then have passed after final adjournment on March 21, 2005.

OAGs cited:

04-002.

Constitutional
Sections
Construed:

Section 55, Constitution of Kentucky.

Opinion of the Attorney General
The following question, in substance, has been presented: What is the effective date of legislation, other than general appropriation

OAG 05-004
Page 2

bills and acts containing emergency or delayed effective date provisions, passed during the 2005 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly, the Assembly having finally adjourned on March 21, 2005? As discussed below, the effective date of legislation, other than general appropriation bills and acts containing emergency or delayed effective date provisions, passed during the 2005 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly, is the first moment of Monday, June 20, 2005. Section 55 of the Constitution of Kentucky provides: No act, except general appropriation bills, shall become 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" (emphasis added), 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. It follows that the 90th day shall be included in the period, in order that 90 full days shall expire after final adjournment, before certain legislation passed during the session becomes effective. See OAG 04-002. Applying the analysis described above to the 2005 Regular Session, the General Assembly having adjourned sine die on March 21, 2005, we find the following, regarding legislation other than general appropriation bills or acts containing emergency or delayed effective

OAG 05-004
Page 3

date provisions: The first day of the 90 day period after the session is Tuesday March 22, 2005, and the 90th day of that period is Sunday, June 19, 2005. When the last moment of that 90th day has expired, ninety full days will have passed after the adjournment "sine die" of the 2005 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 2005 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly will be effective on the first moment of Monday, June 20, 2005. Gregory D. Stumbo Attorney General

Gerard R. Gerhard
Assistant Attorney General
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