Judge dismisses KY auditor’s lawsuit over implementation of kinship caregiver law
A Frankfort judge on Monday dismissed a lawsuit by the state auditor against Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear’s administration, adding another twist to a monthslong fight over implementation of the state’s kinship caregiver law.
Republican Auditor Allison Ball “is pursuing an unripe controversy,” Franklin Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate wrote in his Sept. 15 ruling dismissing the suit.
Wingate removed Beshear from the lawsuit in early August, heeding a request the governor made in July, arguing that the basis of the complaint was “manufactured controversy.”
The lawsuit still accused Beshear’s Cabinet of Health and Family Services of failing to implement the law, but it was dismissed altogether this week.
In response, Ball on Tuesday said her office will file subpoenas against Beshear and the Cabinet for Health and Family Services.
Ball sued Beshear and the cabinet in May, arguing the state agency and executive branch were failing to implement Senate Bill 151. That’s a 2024 law that gives relatives who agree to take care of abused or neglected children more time to apply for foster benefits.
But Beshear has argued the Republican-controlled legislature did not appropriate funding for the law, which has stalled its implementation. Beshear has said it would cost about $20 million to implement the law for which he’s voiced support, but the money to fund the law hasn’t been appropriated by the legislature.
“Implementing Senate Bill 151 requires more funding, yet the General Assembly failed to do so in both the 2024 and 2025 legislative sessions,” Beshear said in a news release Monday.
He added that he plans to add that funding in his 2026 proposed budget.
Ball, along with Republican supporters of the bill, challenged Beshear’s claim. Sen. Julie Raque Adams, R-Louisville, lambasted the cabinet and the executive branch in a committee meeting this summer for not enforcing the law.
“The cabinet has full discretion to implement what they want to implement . . . and the governor is not a dictator,” Adams said in June. “He’s not a king. He has to follow the law. In this instance, he is not following the law.”
Ball launched an investigation in late 2024 to determine whether funds to implement the law existed in the state budget. In May, she filed suit.
Beshear asked this summer for the suit to be dismissed, and Wingate concurred Monday.
“The Auditor presents a list of actions that are characterized as obstructions to assert that the claim is ripe for review; however, this court disagrees and declines to issue an unripe advisory opinion and must dismiss,” he wrote in his eight-page opinion.
Wingate also concluded Ball did not prove Beshear or his cabinet had failed to participate in Ball’s investigation. “The record before the court illustrates that CHFS (Cabinet for Health and Family Services) did not outright refuse to cooperate in the auditor’s investigation,” Wingate wrote. “CHFS responded to the requests and provided answers, information and records in those responses, except for two requests.
“This indicates a willingness by CHFS to cooperate with the investigation, contrary to the Auditor’s assertion that CHFS has no intention of cooperating with or participating in any further investigation,” he added.
But the fight isn’t quite over yet.
Ball countered Wingate’s decision on Tuesday by signaling she would pursue filing subpoenas to get additional information from Beshear and the Cabinet.
“Governor Beshear continues to say his appointees have turned over everything my office has requested, this is untrue; even the court opinion makes it clear that they have yet to fully comply,” Ball said in a statement. “These subpoenas will reveal the truth about the actual cost and all available resources to fund this program.”
Meanwhile, Beshear celebrated the judge’s decision.
“It is simple: The state cannot implement programs and policies if we don’t have the funding needed to do so — and the Kentucky Supreme Court agrees. I plan to include this in my next budget so we can get these policies moving forward to help these children.”
Terry Brooks, Executive Director of Kentucky Youth Advocates — a partner organization of Kinship Families Coalition of Kentucky — said he hopes collaboration will prevent the bill from lingering in limbo next summer.
“Kinship families are being kicked around more than a football at Kroger Field in the fall,” Brooks said. “The issue transcends legalese from the courts or political chicanery in Frankfort. It is actually an ethical issue for the commonwealth.”
This story was originally published September 16, 2025 at 2:26 PM.
