Request By:
Mr. Vic Hellard, Jr.
Director, Legislative Research Commission
Room 300, State Capitol
Frankfort, Kentucky 40601
Opinion
Opinion By: Frederic J. Cowan, Attorney General; Nathan Goldman, Assistant Attorney General
In your letter you ask for the effective date of legislation passed by the 1990 Regular Session of the General Assembly.
Section 55 of the Kentucky Constitution states that acts of the General Assembly become law 90 days after the adjournment of the session, except in cases of emergency. Section 42 of the Kentucky Constitution states that no session of the General Assembly shall continue beyond 60 legislative days, exclusive of Sundays, legal holidays or any day on which neither House meets, except no regular session shall extend beyond April 15.
In OAG 86-6 we opined that the day of adjournment must be excluded in determining the effective date of ordinary legislation. Thus, assuming that the 1990 Regular Session of the General Assembly adjourns sine die on April 13, 1990 (April 15 is a Sunday), the effective date of ordinary legislation passed at that session would be July 13, 1990. Of course, if the session adjourns earlier, the effective date would have to be adjusted accordingly.