April 18, 2024
OAG 24-04
Subject:
The effective date of legislation passed during the 2024 Regular
Session of the Kentucky General Assembly.
Requested by:
Cyndi Galvin, Reviser of Statutes
Legislative Research Commission
Written by:
James M. Herrick, Assistant Attorney General
Office of Civil and Environmental Law
Syllabus:
Under Section 55 of the Kentucky Constitution, the effective date
of legislation passed by the 2024 Regular Session of the Kentucky
General Assembly, except for general appropriation measures
and those containing emergency or delayed effective date
provisions, is Monday, July 15, 2024, since 90 full days will then
have passed after final adjournment on April 15, 2024.
Opinion of the Attorney General
On April 15, 2024, the 2024 Regular Session of the General Assembly
adjourned sine die. Thus, the effective date of legislation, other than general
appropriation bills and acts containing emergency or delayed effective date
provisions, passed during this session is Monday, July 15, 2024.
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.Opinion of the Attorney General 24-04
April 18, 2024
Page 2
As used in Section 55, “until ninety days after the adjournment” means that the day
of adjournment is excluded when calculating the 90-day period. It follows that the
90th day is included in the period so that 90 full days expire after final adjournment
and before certain legislation passed during the session becomes effective. See OAG
19-005.
Under Section 55 of the Kentucky Constitution, the General Assembly having
adjourned on April 15, 2024, sine die, it is the opinion of this Office that the first day
of the 90-day period after the session is Tuesday, April 16, 2024, and the 90th day of
that period is Sunday, July 14, 2024. When that 90th day has expired, ninety full
days will have passed after the adjournment sine die of the 2024 Regular Session of
the Kentucky General Assembly. Thus, legislation (except for general appropriation
measures and those containing emergency or delayed effective date provisions)
passed during the 2024 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly will be
effective on Monday, July 15, 2024.
Russell Coleman
ATTORNEY GENERAL
James M. Herrick
Assistant Attorney General