When did ordinary Kentucky laws from the 2012 special session take effect?

Plain-English summary

The Kentucky Attorney General calculated the effective date for ordinary laws passed during the General Assembly's 2012 extraordinary session. The session ended on April 20. Under Section 55 of the Kentucky Constitution, the AG counted April 21 as the first of 90 full days and July 19 as the ninetieth, making the first moment of July 20, 2012, the effective date. The opinion excluded general appropriation measures and acts with emergency or delayed effective-date provisions from that answer.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2012. 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.

Historical summary

Agencies applying special-session legislation

The opinion supplied a specific date for the 2012 extraordinary session: July 20 for the acts within its question. It did not apply that date to acts with their own effective-date provisions or to general appropriation bills.

Legislators and researchers

The AG excluded the day of final adjournment from Section 55's 90-day period. It included the ninetieth day so that 90 full days passed before the ordinary acts became effective. The same counting method appeared in the cited OAG 07-002.

Common questions

Was July 20, 2012, the effective date of every special-session bill?

No. The AG addressed ordinary acts and expressly excluded general appropriation measures and acts containing emergency or delayed effective-date provisions.

Did April 20 count as the first waiting-period day?

No. The opinion counted from April 21, the day after the extraordinary session finally adjourned.

Why did the date fall after July 19?

July 19 was day 90 in the AG's count. The covered acts took effect at the first moment of the following day, after 90 full days had expired.

Background and statutory framework

Section 55 of the Kentucky Constitution required a waiting period after adjournment for ordinary legislation and supplied an emergency exception. The request concerned the 2012 extraordinary session, which adjourned on April 20. The AG applied that session date and the approach cited in OAG 07-002 to reach July 20.

Citations and references

• KY. CONST. § 55: effective-date rule quoted and applied by the AG.
• OAG 07-002: earlier AG opinion cited for the counting method.

Source

• Landing page: https://kdla.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/IO_724bfa67-bb84-47d8-a3c9-4cfd41d4adea/
• Original PDF: https://kdla.access.preservica.com/download/file/IO_724bfa67-bb84-47d8-a3c9-4cfd41d4adea

Original opinion text

OAG 12-007
April 26, 2012
Subject:

Effective date of certain legislation passed during the 2012 Extraordinary 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 2012 Extraordinary 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 Friday, July 20, 2012, since 90 full days will then have passed after final adjournment on April 20, 2012.

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 12-007
Page 2

sions, passed during the 2012 Extraordinary Session of the Kentucky General Assembly, the Assembly having finally adjourned on Friday, April 20, 2012? 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 2012 Extraordinary Session of the Kentucky General Assembly, is the first moment of Friday, July 20, 2012. 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 2012 Extraordinary Session, the General Assembly having adjourned sine die on April 20, 2012, we find the following, regarding legislation other than general appropriation bills or acts containing emergency or delayed effective

OAG 12-007
Page 3

date provisions: The first day of the 90-day period after the session is Saturday, April 21, 2012, and the 90th day of that period is Thursday, July 19, 2012. When the last moment of that 90th day has expired, ninety full days will have passed after the adjournment "sine die" of the 2012 Extraordinary 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 2012 Extraordinary Session of the Kentucky General Assembly will be effective on the first moment of Friday, July 20, 2012.

Jack Conway
Attorney General

James M. Herrick
Assistant Attorney General