When did ordinary bills passed in Kentucky's 2011 legislative session take effect?

Plain-English summary

Kentucky's Attorney General calculated that legislation passed in the General Assembly's 2011 regular session generally became effective at the first moment of Wednesday, June 8, 2011. The calculation excluded general appropriation bills and acts with emergency or delayed effective date provisions.

The General Assembly finally adjourned on March 9, 2011. Applying Section 55 of the Kentucky Constitution, the AG excluded adjournment day from the 90-day count. March 10 was day one, June 7 was day 90, and the laws covered by the ordinary rule became effective after that full day ended.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2011. 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 effective date did the AG give for ordinary Kentucky bills from the 2011 session? A: The first moment of June 8, 2011, for bills covered by the usual constitutional rule.

Q: Why wasn't March 9 included in the 90-day count? A: The opinion read the constitutional phrase “after the adjournment” to exclude the day of final adjournment, March 9. It counted March 10 as the first full day.

Q: Was June 7 itself the effective date? A: No. June 7 was the 90th full day after adjournment. The AG said the covered laws became effective at the first moment of the next day, June 8.

Q: Did the same date apply to emergency or appropriation measures? A: The opinion excluded general appropriation bills and acts with emergency or delayed effective date provisions from its June 8 calculation.

Background and statutory framework

The Legislative Research Commission asked for the effective date of legislation passed in the 2011 regular session after the General Assembly adjourned sine die on March 9. Section 55 of the Kentucky Constitution supplied the 90-day rule and an exception for general appropriation bills and qualifying emergency acts. The AG also excluded acts containing delayed effective date provisions from the particular date it calculated. The opinion followed its earlier OAG 07-002 approach to counting full days after final adjournment.

Citations and references

• KY. CONST. § 55: constitutional waiting period and stated exceptions.
• OAG 07-002: earlier opinion cited for excluding adjournment day from the count.

Source

• Landing page: https://kdla.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/IO_70feb6e5-ed11-41b8-8695-d0626b31c995/
• Original PDF: https://kdla.access.preservica.com/download/file/IO_70feb6e5-ed11-41b8-8695-d0626b31c995

Original opinion text

OAG 11-002
March 17, 2011
Subject:

Effective date of certain legislation passed during the 2011 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly

Requested by:

Robert S. Sherman, Director
Legislative Research Commission

Written by:

James M. Herrick
Assistant Attorney General

Syllabus:

In accordance with Section 55 of the Constitution of Kentucky, the effective date of legislation passed by the 2011 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 Wednesday, June 8, 2011, since 90 full days will then have passed after final adjournment on March 9, 2011.

Constitutional
provision construed:
OAG cited:

KY. CONST. § 55

OAG 07-002

Opinion of the Attorney General
The following question, in substance, has been presented: What is the effective date of legislation, other than general appropriation bills and acts containing emergency or delayed effective date provi-

OAG 11-002
Page 2

sions, passed during the 2011 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly, the Assembly having finally adjourned on Wednesday, March 9, 2011? 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 2011 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly, is the first moment of Wednesday, June 8, 2011. 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" (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 07-002. Applying the analysis described above to the 2011 Regular Session, the General Assembly having adjourned sine die on March 9, 2011, we find the following, regarding legislation other than general appropriation bills or acts containing emergency or delayed effective

OAG 11-002
Page 3

date provisions: The first day of the 90-day period after the session is Thursday, March 10, 2011, and the 90th day of that period is Tuesday, June 7, 2011. When the last moment of that 90th day has expired, ninety full days will have passed after the adjournment "sine die" of the 2011 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 2011 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly will be effective on the first moment of Wednesday, June 8, 2011.

Jack Conway
Attorney General

James M. Herrick
Assistant Attorney General