Lt. Gov. Hampton appeals Gov. Bevin’s firing of her two top staffers
Kentucky Lt. Gov. Jenean Hampton is appealing the dismissal of her Franklin Circuit Court lawsuit to prohibit Gov. Matt Bevin’s administration from firing her two top staffers.
Hampton’s attorney, Joshua Harp of Frankfort, informed Franklin Circuit Court Wednesday that Hampton is appealing its decision to the Kentucky Court of Appeals.
“We strongly disagree with the circuit court’s ruling and we believe that this issue is too important not to pursue further legal review,” said Harp.
Hampton sued Bevin in his official capacity as governor. Both will be leaving their state posts Dec. 10 when Gov.-elect Steve Beshear and Lt. Gov.-elect Jacqueline Coleman are sworn into office.
It is uncertain what will happen to Hampton’s lawsuit after Dec. 10.
Beshear, as Kentucky attorney general, said in August in an opinion that did not carry the force of law that the lieutenant governor has the power to “appoint and terminate” her own staff. Beshear tried to make Bevin’s actions toward Hampton an issue in the governor’s race that Kentucky voters decided Nov. 5.
Franklin Circuit Judge Philip Shepherd ruled last month that Bevin has the authority to hire and fire employees who are assigned to the lieutenant governor.
Hampton had sued Bevin in an effort to reverse Bevin’s dismissal of her top two staffers.
Shepherd said Hampton “lacks any statutory or constitutional power to act as ‘appointing authority’ for the personnel assigned to her by the office of the governor.”
He said his finding “should not be construed as any criticism of Lt. Gov. Hampton, who appears to have discharged all of her assigned duties with dignity, loyalty and honor.”
The judge also said the court record contained no explanation as to why Bevin “has not accorded Lt. Gov. Hampton such basic authority over the operation of her own office. Nevertheless, the lieutenant governor has only those duties and powers assigned by the General Assembly or delegated by the governor.”
The governor and lieutenant governor are constitutional officers but they are elected together as a slate.
Hampton sued Bevin and the Personnel Cabinet in August, claiming that she — as a constitutionally elected officer of the state —is empowered by the law to appoint staff to her office and to block the governor from interfering with her appointment power.
The Bevin Administration fired Hampton’s chief of staff, Steve Knipper, in January for refusing to follow its policy of leaving state government when he decided to run in May’s Republican primary election for secretary of state. He was unsuccessful in the election.
The Bevin Administration then fired Adrienne Southworth, Hampton’s deputy chief of staff, in May. Southworth said she didn’t know why she was fired, but she had been investigating Knipper’s dismissal.
Bevin’s chief of staff, Blake Brickman, has said he authorized Southworth’s dismissal for “remarkably poor judgment in a number of ways.”
Knipper and Southworth have appealed their dismissals to the Personnel Board.
