Fayette County school board chair says law ousting him is unconstitutional. He’s suing.

Fayette County Board of Education chair Tyler Murphy on Tuesday filed a lawsuit in Franklin Circuit Court challenging the constitutionality of the new 2026 Kentucky law that prohibits him from serving because he works for another public school district.

Murphy is suing the state of Kentucky and members of the Fayette Board of Elections, which include Fayette County Clerk Susan Lamb, Fayette County Sheriff Kathy Witt, and members Deborah Alexander and Monteia Mundy.

The lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of Senate Bill 4, passed earlier this year by the Kentucky General Assembly. The law went into effect immediately. The wording of the law effectively makes Murphy ineligible to run for reelection — it says anyone working full-time for another school district cannot serve on the school board in Kentucky’s large districts. Murphy’s seat is up for grabs in November this year.

Even with the bill gaining momentum to be passed earlier this year, Murphy filed for reelection shortly before the General Assembly approved the measure.

Because Murphy filed prior to the enacting of the law, Lamb previously told the Herald-Leader that someone would need to sue to remove Murphy from the ballot. It’s unclear if such action had been taken before Murphy’s lawsuit Tuesday.

The lawsuit asked for an injunction to prevent the law from going into effect.

The school board eligibility bar in the new law currently affects only Murphy, the lawsuit alleges, because he is a teacher in Boyle County Schools.

The lawsuit alleges the law “was enacted for the very purpose of rendering Murphy ineligible for re-election that position.”

The lawsuit notes one Republican lawmaker asked Murphy and Fayette County Public Schools Superintendent Demetrus Liggins to resign, and another took action to remove Murphy from office, which is still under consideration in the General Assembly.

Republican and Democratic lawmakers alike have expressed displeasure with Murphy and Liggins because FCPS is in the throes of a financial crisis that lawmakers have said is of their own making.

A teachers’ union, the Kentucky Education Association joined Murphy in the lawsuit, the lawsuit said, on Murphy’s behalf and others who might be affected by the new law.

Murphy is a member of the KEA’s executive committee and the board of directors of the National Education Association, the lawsuit said.

This is a developing story and will be updated.