Title II, Legislative Branch

A member of the General Assembly who desires to resign his office shall submit a letter of resignation to the officer required to issue a writ of special election to fill such vacancy, pursuant to KRS 118.730. Upon receiving such letter of resignation such officer immediately sha…

At the beginning of each regular session of the General Assembly, each house shall elect one (1) chief clerk, one (1) assistant clerk, one (1) enrolling clerk, one (1) sergeant-at- arms, one (1) doorkeeper and one (1) janitor; the Senate shall elect one (1) cloakroom keeper and t…

(1) The chief clerk of each house shall file and preserve in the office of his house a correct copy of the journal of its proceedings. At the close of each session of the General Assembly, he shall make an inventory of all the books, stationery and furniture belonging to his hous…

The chief clerk of each house shall furnish a correct journal of its proceedings for each day to the Legislative Research Commission as soon as the journal is approved by the house. The Legislative Research Commission shall carefully compare or have compared the proofs of the jou…

The expenses of preparing, indexing, and editing the journals of the General Assembly shall be paid from the appropriation for legislative journals and acts upon requisition of the co-chairmen of the Legislative Research Commission.

pages. (1) The sergeant-at-arms shall direct and superintend the pages and the delivery of the mail, and perform the duties of the doorkeeper in his absence. (2) The doorkeeper shall superintend and direct the janitor, and perform the duties of the sergeant-at-arms in his absence…

Each employee of the General Assembly shall attend the daily sessions of the house by which he is employed and shall not be absent from the seat of government during the session of the General Assembly without a leave of absence.

members and employees. All funds appropriated for legislative sessions shall be placed in a legislative session fund. All compensation of members and employees and all contingent expenses of the General Assembly shall be paid from this fund on vouchers approved by the co-chairmen…

Beginning as of January 1, 1984, the members of the General Assembly, other than the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the President of the Senate, the Speaker Pro Tempore of the House of Representatives, President Pro Tempore of the Senate, and the majority and minority l…

of General Assembly. The compensation and travel allowance of the President of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and members of both houses of the General Assembly shall be paid on the certificate of the co-chairmen of the Legislative Research Commission of the…

Effective January 1, 1994, in addition to any and all sums, compensation, or expenses now paid the members of the General Assembly, each shall receive an expense allowance of one hundred ten percent (110%) of the expense allowance paid federal employees traveling in the Frankfort…

The secretary of the Finance and Administration Cabinet shall, on the first and fifteenth day of each month, during the time the General Assembly is in regular or extraordinary session, draw his warrant on the Treasurer in favor of each member of the General Assembly for the sums…

(1) In addition to the per diem and all allowances provided by law to members of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, each member of the Legislature is hereby granted an expense allowance of nine hundred fifty dollars ($950) per month for secretarial assistance, …

In lieu of stationery, there shall be allowed to each member of the General Assembly the sum of fifty dollars ($50). This allowance shall be paid out of the State Treasury at the beginning of the session.

Interim per diem and expenses. Between sessions of the General Assembly offices shall be maintained in the State Capitol building for the use and benefit of the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Except when the General Assembly is in session…

Employees of the General Assembly shall receive a per diem as follows: chief clerk, one hundred twenty dollars ($120); assistant clerk, one hundred ten dollars ($110); enrolling clerk, one hundred five dollars ($105); sergeant-at-arms, eighty-five dollars ($85); doorkeeper, eight…

Assembly. (1) The secretary of the Finance and Administration Cabinet, upon the recommendation of the director of the Legislative Research Commission shall procure from one (1) or more life insurance companies, and from one (1) or more hospitalization insurance companies, authori…

The date of the approval of an act by the Governor, or the day it passes against his objections, shall be stated at the end of the act.

The Legislative Research Commission shall maintain separate bill request files as follows: (1) A regular session bill request file in which all requests for legislation to be enacted at a regular session are filed in serial order; (2) A special session bill request file which sha…

chambers -- Petition -- Approval -- Withdrawal -- Forms. (1) If a bill is introduced in the Senate or the House of Representatives, and a substantially similar bill is introduced in the opposite chamber, the primary sponsors of each of the bills may jointly petition the Committee…

Representatives. In commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the resolution which passed through the 84th United States Congress and subsequently was signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on July 30, 1956, thereby making "In God We Trust" the national motto of the United S…

benefits or participation in state-administered retirement system. (1) A bill which would increase or decrease the benefits or increase or decrease participation in the benefits or change the actuarial accrued liability of any state- administered retirement system shall not be re…

property, facilities, and meetings of General Assembly and Legislative Research Commission -- Briefings on security matters. The Department of Kentucky State Police shall provide certified officers for the protection of the property, facilities, and the meetings of the General As…

There hereby is created a retirement plan for the members of the General Assembly (hereinafter "legislators"). Each legislator in office on July 1, 1980, and each legislator thereafter taking office, may acquire membership in the plan in accordance with the provisions of KRS 6.50…

Effect on membership in other retirement plans -- Repurchase of Kentucky Employees Retirement System credit lost by refund. (1) (a) Each legislator in office on July 1, 1980, may within thirty (30) days after that date, and any legislator thereafter taking office may within thirt…

who began participating before January 1, 2014 -- Special provisions for active members who began participating before January 1, 2014. (1) Service credit in the Legislators' Retirement Plan shall be acquired only by service as a legislator after July 1, 1980, while a member of t…

five years of service in General Assembly for members retiring on or after January 1, 2018 -- Exceptions for bona fide promotion or career development - - Exclusion -- Determination by board -- Administrative regulations -- Inapplicability to hybrid cash balance participants. (1)…

2014. (1) A member of the Legislators' Retirement Plan who retires on or after his or her normal retirement date shall receive a service retirement allowance, payable monthly during his or her lifetime, in an amount per month equal to three and fifty one-hundredths percent (3.50%…

(1) As of July 1 of each year, the board of trustees of the Kentucky Judicial Form Retirement System shall recompute the monthly benefits of persons then receiving benefits under the Legislators' Retirement Plan, provided the person began participating in the plan prior to Januar…

Combining service credit. The Legislators' Retirement Plan shall be governed by KRS 21.560 and by provisions identical in terms with those provided in KRS 21.345(1), 21.345(3) to (6), 21.357, 21.360(1), 21.370 to 21.410, 21.374, 21.420, 21.425, 21.450, 21.460, 21.470, 21.480, 21.…

There is hereby established, within the Legislators' Retirement Plan, a state fund to be known as the Legislators' Retirement Fund, which shall consist of the plan members' contributions, state appropriations to the fund, transfers of money as provided in KRS 6.535 and Section 25…

When a legislator has service credit in the Kentucky Employees Retirement System, County Employees Retirement System, State Police Retirement System, or Teachers' Retirement System, earned for service as a legislator, which credit by virtue of KRS 6.505 will become credit in the …

(1) There is hereby created and established a state fund to be known as the "Legislators' Retirement Plan Insurance Fund." (2) The fund is created for the purpose of providing a fund separate from legislators' retirement funds, and is to be used to provide fringe benefits to reti…

contributions -- Payment for dependents -- Exemption from premium taxation -- Eligibility of members with required amount of legislative service. (1) The board of trustees of the Judicial Form Retirement System shall arrange by appropriate contract or on a self-insured basis to p…

KRS 6.601 to 6.849 may be cited as the "Kentucky Code of Legislative Ethics."

The proper operation of democratic government requires that a public official be independent and impartial; that government policy and decisions be made through the established processes of government; that a public official not use public office to obtain private benefits; that …

As used in this code, unless the context requires otherwise: (1) "Adversarial proceeding" means a proceeding in which decisions are made based upon evidence presented as measured against established standards, with parties having the right to appeal the decision on the record to …

The following definitions apply in this code: (1) "Intentionally" -- A person acts intentionally with respect to a result or to conduct described by a statute defining an offense when his conscious objective is to cause that result or to engage in that conduct. (2) "Knowingly" --…

Except as otherwise provided in this section, a person may be convicted under this code of an offense committed by his own conduct or the conduct of another for which he is legally accountable when: (1) Either the conduct or the result which is an element of the offense occurs wi…

spouses of legislators, and continuing employment as legislative agents of certain spouses of legislators. Nothing in this code shall preclude: (1) A legislator or candidate from soliciting contributions on behalf of charitable, civic, or educational entities provided the solicit…

Nothing in this code is intended to nor is to be construed as repealing or modifying in any way the provisions of any of the criminal or penal laws of this state but shall be held and construed as ancillary and supplemental thereto.

as ethical misconduct. If a provision of KRS 6.601 to 6.849 is designated as a misdemeanor or a felony, an alleged violation of the provision may be adjudicated by the commission as ethical misconduct.

Terms. (1) The Kentucky Legislative Ethics Commission is established as an independent authority and shall be an agency of the legislative department of state government. (2) The commission shall be composed of nine (9) members, not less than three (3) of whom shall be members of…

(1) The chair and the vice chair of the commission shall be elected by a majority vote of the members of the commission. The chair and the vice chair shall serve terms of one (1) year and may be reelected. The chair shall preside at meetings of the commission. The vice chair shal…

(1) The commission may employ an executive director who shall serve at the pleasure of the commission. (2) The executive director shall: (a) Administer the daily business of the commission and perform the duties assigned by the commission; and (b) Employ and remove other personne…

-- Lists of legislative agents -- Trust and agency account. (1) The commission shall have jurisdiction over the administration of this code and enforcement of the civil penalties prescribed by this code. (2) The commission shall have jurisdiction over the disposition of complaint…