Could overturning a KY education law threaten merged governments? AG says yes
A case challenging a 2022 law that changed the power balance in Jefferson County schools is before the Kentucky Supreme Court again, as supporters of the law say overturning it would threaten the legality of local government mergers.
The Kentucky Supreme Court reheard oral arguments Wednesday morning from opponents and supporters of an effort to overturn Senate Bill 1, which gave power to the Louisville-Metro Jefferson County government to restructure the relationship between the school board and the superintendent.
Critics of the law argue it should be overturned because it required special legislation that targeted a single school district. Meanwhile, supporters of the law say if it’s overturned, it could have wide-ranging effects statewide, jeopardizing the legality of merged governments like Lexington-Fayette County.
The law gave Louisville officials the power to restructure the district’s governance and make the superintendent position similar to a CEO, and the school board more like a board of directors.
The Jefferson County Public School Board sued in June 2022 to stop the law and maintain control of the district.
Supporters of the law, like Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman, say overturning it could reduce services in merged governments across the commonwealth, including trash collecting, parking, taxes and policing.
“If the Supreme Court pulls at this thread and overturns the education law, this story could end with the unraveling of the merger and 20 years of metro government,” Coleman said in a statement Wednesday. “That would be wrong on the law and wrong for moms and dads who just want to keep their kids safe, healthy and learning.”
The state’s highest court previously upheld Senate Bill 1 in December 2024, but decided in April 2025 to hear the case again.
Several lawmakers have said the court’s decision to rehear the case is unusual, and they attribute it to the April 2025 election of Justice Pamela Goodwine.
The Herald-Leader published an op-ed from Rep. Jason Nemes, of Louisville, in support of the ruling that upheld Senate Bill 1.
Nemes acknowledged the change in the court’s decision after Goodwine and Chief Justice Debra Lambert’s elections. Lambert replaced former Chief Justice Laurence VanMeter.
“However, the Court’s membership changed just a few weeks later with the retirement of the Chief Justice and the arrival of a new justice,” Nemes wrote. “The JCPS Board seized this opportunity, hoping that a new justice may swing the vote and transform a defeat into a victory and the Court took the remarkable and extraordinary step to void the previous decision and order a re-hearing.”
David Tachau, a lawyer for Louisville schools, said the state’s claim that overturning Senate Bill 1 would threaten merged governments’ functionality is a “red herring.”
“The whole notion the sky will fall if Senate Bill 1 is declared unconstitutional is fiction,” Tachau said Wednesday at the Fayette County Circuit Courthouse during arguments before the Supreme Court.
Another op-ed published Wednesday morning in the Herald-Leader also said state lawmakers’ warnings weren’t accurate.
Authors Corrie Shull and James Craig, chair and vice chair of the Jefferson County Board of Education, said the outcome of the school board’s lawsuit would have no impact on the General Assembly’s ability to legislate with local governments.
A new lawsuit filed Monday by a Louisville businessman took aim at Senate Bill 1, too.
This lawsuit, filed by David Nicklies, claims merged governments — particularly Louisville’s — is unconstitutional.
Nicklies said the General Assembly overstepped its authority in passing the law, and, as a result, creates tax and service inequity.
The Supreme Court will deliberate the arguments and make a ruling later on the effort to overturn Senate Bill 1.
