OAG 89-01 | KOGC

Request By:

Vic Hellard, Jr.
Director
Legislative Research Commission
State Capitol
Frankfort, Kentucky 40601

Opinion

Opinion By: Frederic J. Cowan, Attorney General; Nathan Goldman, Assistant Attorney General

This is in response to your letter of December 15, 1988 in which you present the following question:

"The 1988 Special Session of the General Assembly adjourned sine die on Wednesday, December 14, 1988. What will be the effective date for legislation which does not contain an emergency clause or special effective date?"

In response to the above question, we are of the opinion that ordinary legislation adopted at the 1988 Special Session of the Kentucky General Assembly will become effective March 15, 1989.

In determining the effective date of ordinary legislation, December 14, 1988, the day of adjournment, must be excluded which means that March 14, 1989, would be the 90th day following adjournment which day must be included in computing the 90-day period of time provided in Section 55 of the Constitution, thereby making all ordinary legislation effective March 15, 1989. Cf. OAG 72-195 and KRS 446.030.

LLM Summary

In OAG 89-01, the Attorney General responded to an inquiry about the effective date of legislation passed during the 1988 Special Session of the Kentucky General Assembly without an emergency clause or special effective date. The opinion concluded that such legislation would become effective on March 15, 1989, based on the constitutional requirement to exclude the day of adjournment and include the 90th day thereafter in the calculation. OAG 72-195 and KRS 446.030 were cited to support this interpretation.

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