When did ordinary laws from Kentucky’s 2015 regular legislative session take effect?

Plain-English summary

The Kentucky Attorney General calculated the first moment of June 24, 2015, as the effective time for ordinary acts passed in the 2015 regular legislative session. The General Assembly adjourned on March 25. The opinion excluded adjournment day, counted March 26 as day one and June 23 as day 90, and placed effectiveness after all 90 days had passed.

The calculation excluded general appropriation bills and acts containing emergency or delayed effective date provisions.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2015. 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

Was March 25, the adjournment day, counted?

No. The AG excluded it and began the 90-day count on March 26, 2015.

Did ordinary session laws take effect during the 90th day?

No. The opinion counted June 23 as day 90 and set the effective moment at the start of June 24.

Did the date apply to emergency or delayed-date acts?

No. Those acts, along with general appropriation bills, were expressly outside the opinion’s ordinary-act calculation.

Background and statutory framework

The Legislative Research Commission asked for the effective date of ordinary 2015 session legislation. The AG read Ky. Const. § 55 to require 90 full days after final adjournment and cited OAG 07-002 for the method of counting.

Citations and references

Constitutional provision: Ky. Const. § 55.

Prior opinion cited: OAG 07-002.

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.ky.gov/Resources/Opinions/Pages/Opinions.aspx
• Original Word document: https://www.ag.ky.gov/Resources/Opinions/Opinions/OAG15-008.doc

Original opinion text

OAG 15-008

April 2, 2015

Subject: Effective date of certain legislation passed during the 2015 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly

Requested by: Marcia Seiler, Acting 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 2015 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 24, 2015, since 90 full days will then have passed after final adjournment on March 25, 2015.

Constitutional

provision construed: Ky. Const. § 55

OAG cited: 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 provisions, passed during the 2015 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly, the Assembly having finally adjourned on Wednesday, March 25, 2015?

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 2015 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly, is the first moment of Wednesday, June 24, 2015.

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 2015 Regular Session, the General Assembly having adjourned sine die on March 25, 2015, we find the following, regarding legislation other than general appropriation bills or acts containing emergency or delayed effective date provisions: The first day of the 90-day period after the session is Thursday, March 26, 2015, and the 90th day of that period is Tuesday, June 23, 2015. When the last moment of that 90th day has expired, ninety full days will have passed after the adjournment "sine die" of the 2015 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 2015 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly will be effective on the first moment of Wednesday, June 24, 2015.

Jack Conway

Attorney General

James M. Herrick

Assistant Attorney General