When did ordinary laws passed by Kentucky's 2016 General Assembly take effect?

Plain-English summary

The Legislative Research Commission asked when legislation from the Kentucky General Assembly's 2016 Regular Session would take effect after final adjournment on April 15. The Attorney General concluded that ordinary legislation from that session took effect at the first moment of Friday, July 15, 2016. The opinion expressly excluded general appropriation bills and acts containing emergency or delayed effective date provisions from that default date.

The count began on April 16, the day after adjournment. July 14 was the ninetieth day. The opinion read the constitutional phrase “until ninety days after the adjournment” to require ninety full days to pass before the ordinary acts became effective. Its conclusion says the acts “will be effective on the first moment of Friday, July 15, 2016.”

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2016. 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

When did ordinary laws from Kentucky's 2016 session take effect?

The opinion gave the first moment of Friday, July 15, 2016. It counted ninety full days after the General Assembly's April 15 final adjournment.

Did that date apply to every act passed in the session?

No. The opinion excluded general appropriation measures and acts with emergency or delayed effective date provisions. It did not assign an individual effective date to any such act.

Did the day of adjournment count toward the ninety days?

No. The opinion excluded April 15, counted April 16 as day one and July 14 as day ninety, and placed the default effective date at the start of July 15.

Background and constitutional framework

Section 55 of the Kentucky Constitution says, “No act, except general appropriation bills, shall become a law until ninety days after the adjournment of the session at which it was passed,” subject to the emergency procedure stated in the section. The Attorney General applied that language to the 2016 session and cited earlier OAG 07-002 for the counting method.

One sentence near the start of page two calls July 15, 2016, “Wednesday.” The syllabus and final conclusion both call it “Friday.” This page follows the stated Friday conclusion and preserves the inconsistent wording in the original text below.

Citations and references

• KY. CONST. § 55 (ninety days after adjournment and stated exceptions).
• OAG 07-002 (earlier opinion cited for the counting method).

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.ky.gov/Resources/Opinions/Pages/Opinions.aspx
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.ky.gov/Resources/Opinions/Opinions/OAG16-002.pdf

Original opinion text

OAG 16-002

April 22, 2016

Subject: Effective date of certain legislation passed during the 2016
Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly

Requested by: David A. Byerman, Director Legislative Research Commission

Written by: James M. Herrick
Assistant Attorney General

Syllabus: In accordance with Section 55 of the Constitution of Ken-
tucky, the effective date of legislation passed by the 2016 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 Friday, July 15, 2016, since 90 full days will then have passed after final adjournment on April 15, 2016.

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 ef- fective date of legislation, other than general appropriation bills and acts contain- ing emergency or delayed effective date provisions, passed during the 2016 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly, the Assembly having finally adjourned on Friday, April 15, 2016?

Page 2

OAG 16-002
Page 2

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 2016 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly, is the first moment of Wednesday, July 15, 2016.

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 majori- ty of the members elected to each House of the General Assembly, by a yea and nay vote entered upon their journals, an act may be- come 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 adjourn- ment (meaning the day of final adjournment for the session, termed "adjourn- ment 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 2016 Regular Session, the General Assembly having adjourned sine die on April 15, 2016, 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 Saturday, April 16, 2016, and the 90th day of that period is Thursday, July 14, 2016. When the last moment of that 90th day has expired, ninety full days will have passed after the adjournment "sine die" of the 2016 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 2016 Regular

Page 3

OAG 16-002
Page 3

Session of the Kentucky General Assembly will be effective on the first moment of Friday, July 15, 2016.

Andy Beshear
Attorney General

James M. Herrick
Assistant Attorney General