Kentucky lawmakers send Beshear a bill taking some state lawsuits out of Frankfort

Before state legislators recessed this year’s law-making session until Feb. 2, they approved and sent to Gov. Andy Beshear a bill on Wednesday to move some state lawsuits out of Franklin Circuit Court.

They also formed conference committees made up of representatives from the House and Senate to iron out differences between the two chambers on the state budget when they resume work next month.

Most of the debate Wednesday was on House Bill 3. Senate Judiciary Chairman Whitney Westefield, R-Hopkinsville, said it is designed “to eliminate the super circuit that Franklin County has right now on various matters,”

He said that court has a large impact on state policy that should rest with local circuit courts across the state.

HB 3 would allow legal cases challenging the constitutionality of Kentucky statute, executive orders, administrative regulations and orders from state cabinets to be filed in the home county of the plaintiff, rather than the defendant.

If the plaintiff is not a resident of Kentucky, then the case would be filed in Franklin Circuit Court. Former Republican Gov. Matt Bevin and other Republicans have contended that the judges in Franklin Circuit Court are too liberal.

Westerfield said HB 3 is not a statement on the two judges now in Franklin Circuit Court — Phillip Shepherd and Thomas Wingate.

Westerfield said he is more concerned about when Shepherd and Wingate retire and the races to replace them “become a super political process because everybody appreciates and realizes the statewide impact of the rulings coming out of that court.”

“We need to spread that love around a little bit,” he said.

Senate Minority Caucus Chairman Reggie Thomas, D-Lexington, spokes against the bill, saying state cases belong in Franklin Circuit Court because Frankfort is the seat of state government.

He contended the bill is designed to let people who want to challenge the state Constitution shop for a judge in their hometown whom they think will be favorable to them.

Thomas called the bill a perversion of the judicial system and claimed it is unconstitutional.

The bill originally would have set up panels of three circuit judges across the state to hear the state cases but lawmakers changed it after Kentucky Supreme Court Chief Justice John D. Minton Jr. objected strongly.

The Senate approved the revised measure on a 28-6 vote and sent it to the House. The House approved it on a 72-20 vote. Beshear now has 10 days to either sign the bill into law, let it become law without his signature or veto it. Republicans appear to have plenty of votes to override any potential veto when they return in February.

The Senate also passed and sent to the House four bills dealing with the budgets of the three branches of government and the Transportation Cabinet.

Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, said votes on the four bills were “a process vote, not a policy vote.” He said the bills, which would continue current spending into the next fiscal year that starts July 1, are placeholders as lawmakers craft final versions of the budgets.

The chambers named conferees to work on the budgets in the second part of this year’s legislative session.