When did ordinary laws passed by Kentucky's 1996 General Assembly take effect?

Plain-English summary

Kentucky's Legislative Research Commission asked when legislation from the 1996 Regular Session would take effect after the General Assembly adjourned on April 15. The Attorney General answered that ordinary session laws became effective at the first moment of Monday, July 15, 1996. The answer excluded general appropriation bills and acts with emergency or delayed effective date provisions.

The opinion read Section 55 of the Kentucky Constitution to exclude the day of adjournment from the ninety-day count. April 16 was day one, July 14 was day ninety, and the ordinary laws became effective after that day ended. The published conclusion says they “will be effective on the first moment of Monday, July 15, 1996.”

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1996. 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

What effective date did the AG give for ordinary 1996 session laws?

The opinion gave Monday, July 15, 1996. It based that date on ninety full days passing after the session's April 15 final adjournment.

Did the April 15 adjournment day count as day one?

No. The AG counted April 16 as the first day and July 14 as the ninetieth day. The ordinary laws took effect at the start of the following day.

Did the opinion assign that date to appropriation and emergency bills?

No. Its answer expressly excluded general appropriation measures and acts with emergency or delayed effective date provisions. It did not calculate dates for those excluded acts.

Background and constitutional framework

The opinion quoted Section 55 of the Kentucky Constitution: “No act, except general appropriation bills, shall become law until ninety days after the adjournment of the session at which it was passed,” followed by an emergency procedure. It cited OAG 95-32 for its interpretation that the adjournment day is excluded and the ninetieth day included.

Citations and references

• Section 55 of the Constitution of Kentucky (the ninety-day rule and exceptions).
• OAG 95-32 (earlier opinion cited for the counting method).

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.ky.gov/Resources/Opinions/Opinions/OAG96-019.htm

Original opinion text

OAG 96-19

April 19, 1996

Subject: Effective Date of Certain Legislation Passed During the 1996 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly.

Written By: Gerard Gerhard

Requested By: Hon. Don Cetrulo, Director, Legislative Research Commission

Syllabus: In accordance with Section 55 of the Constitution of Kentucky, the effective date of legislation passed by the 1996 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, July 15, 1996, since 90 full days will then have passed after final adjournment on April 15, 1996.

Oags Cited: 95-32

Constitutional Sections Construed: 55

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 1996 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly, the Assembly having finally adjourned on Monday, April 15, 1996?

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 1996 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly, is the first moment of Monday, July 15, 1996.

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 set forth in the above cited Constitutional provision, and that the 90th day shall be included in the period, in order that 90 full days shall pass after enactment of certain legislation, before the legislation becomes effective. See OAG 95-32.

Applying the analysis described above to the 1996 Regular Session, the General Assembly having adjourned sine die on Monday, April 15, 1996, 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 Tuesday, April 16, 1996, and the 90th day of that period is Sunday, July 14, 1996. When the last moment of that 90th day has expired, ninety full days will have passed after the adjournment “sine die” of the 1996 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 1996 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly will be effective on the first moment of Monday, July 15, 1996.

A.B. CHANDLER III

ATTORNEY GENERAL

GERARD R. GERHARD

ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL