KY Supreme Court allows subpoena of ex-state official in Steve Beshear administration
The Kentucky Supreme Court unanimously ruled Thursday that the secretary of the state Finance and Administration Cabinet may subpoena a former employee in its investigation of state contracts.
The 21-page ruling came in the case of Finance and Administration Secretary William M. Landrum III in former Gov. Matt Bevin’s administration, against Frank Lassiter, who worked in the administration of former Gov. Steve Beshear, the father of current Gov. Andy Beshear.
Landrum was investigating contracts awarded when Steve Beshear was in office and tried to subpoena Lassiter. Lassiter fought the subpoena, saying he could not be subpoenaed as a former employee. He won in Woodford Circuit Court but lost in the Kentucky Court of Appeals and now the state’s highest court.
Brian C. Thomas, executive director of the office of general counsel for the Finance Cabinet, said the cabinet “appreciates” the Supreme Court ruling.
Asked about the current status of the investigation started by Landrum, Thomas said the cabinet’s inspector general “will re-evaluate the matter and determine what steps, if any, are appropriate. “
Lassiter’s attorney, J. Guthrie True of Frankfort, said Lassister “has always been willing to cooperate with a legitimate and fact-driven inquiry.”
“Today’s decision ... issue does not resolve the many remaining issues in the case, among those being the over-breadth and oppressiveness of the subpoena and the political motives of the Bevin administration in issuing the subpoena, all of which the Supreme Court has held may still be addressed by the circuit court,” True said.
The case is an outgrowth of a broad feud that pitted Bevin, a Republican, against Steve Beshear, a Democrat who immediately preceded Bevin, and Beshear’s son, Andy, who was attorney general during the Bevin Administration.
In its ruling, the Supreme Court said state law gave Landrum broad subpoena power when investigating possible mismanagement of state funds.
The high court said it agreed with Landrum’s argument that “Lassiter’s interpretation would allow a state employee to ‘embezzle from the Treasury on Monday, resign on Tuesday, and claim to be immune from questioning on Wednesday’ simply because he or she is no longer a state employee.
“This would not only be absurd, but it would also severely handicap the secretary’s abilities to fulfill his duties as the protector and overseer of the Commonwealth’s financial well-being.”
Lassiter refused to comply with the Republican governor’s investigation into technology-related contracts worth more than $10.7 million that were awarded by the Steve Beshear administration to SAS Institute. The review also included a no-bid, $3 million contract with SAS awarded shortly before Steve Beshear left office in late 2015.
Lassiter served as executive director of the Office of Administrative Technology Services in the state Cabinet for Health and Family Services from 2008 to 2011. After leaving state government, he became a consultant for SAS. His wife, Mary, was a top executive in Steve Beshear’s administration.
Landurm said the contracts were “no-bid” contracts in violation of the state’s purchasing laws, known as the Kentucky Model Procurement Act.
As part of the Bevin Administration’s investigation into whether the contracts complied with state procurement laws, Landrum served a subpoena on Lassiter in 2016 demanding that he offer testimony and provide documents related to the contracts.
This story was originally published October 29, 2020 at 3:32 PM.
