Kentucky’s Matt Bevin Can Get Impeached: Insider Points To Specific Law

If you signed a petition to impeach the governor of Kentucky, Matt Bevin, and were told there are no laws to make that happen, an insider says you have been misled.

Kentuckians want to get rid of their governor, Matt Bevin, but many news agencies seemed to believe impeachment was impossible and many readers also thought this was true.

For example, in an article about Matt Bevin that was previously reported by the Inquisitr, one reader asked in the comments section: “how an elected person can get fired,” since there are no laws that allow for a recall vote or impeachment in Kentucky.

Fortunately, this is not true after all, and Dan Egbers, former Kentucky state attorney for 32 years, and general counsel for the Personnel Cabinet for 20, took time out of retirement to contact this author to set the record straight.

Thankfully, the law is hiding in plain sight in the Kentucky LRC Code, and it shows how Matt Bevin can get impeached.

Furthermore, it is clear that, when headlines are paired with the law, Matt Bevin is skating on thin ice with a couple of ethics situations in flux. This means, if things go as scheduled, a verdict could be known about Matt Bevin in the next few weeks or months.

While Kentucky does not have a recall vote law on the books, the impeachment procedure is in the language of the state’s laws. The reason it can be difficult to find this law is due to the fact that Kentucky’s laws might not be easily searchable by search engines.

For example, when writers or voters look online for “impeach Kentucky governor,” one of the first bits of information that turns up in search engines is a document from 1991.

As far as the actual law for getting rid of Matt Bevin, Dan Egbers explains that this is fairly simple, and referenced Section 68 of the Kentucky Constitution and a law titled “Civil officers liable to impeachment — Judgment — Criminal liability” and that law includes the following.

“The Governor and all civil officers shall be liable to impeachment for any misdemeanors in office; but judgment in such cases shall not extend further than removal from office, and disqualification to hold any office of honor, trust or profit under this Commonwealth; but the party convicted shall, nevertheless, be subject and liable to indictment, trial and punishment by law.”

Now Kentucky voters simply need to wait for Matt Bevin to get an official reprimand for a “misdemeanor,” as outlined by laws that govern him, such as the current Executive Branch Code of Ethics.

According to their website, Matt Bevin should be making “decisions and policies” within “the established processes of government.” Matt Bevin should also not “use public office to obtain private benefits” and his “actions should promote public confidence in the integrity of government.”

Along those lines, according to a July 6 report from Courier-Journal, Matt Bevin has received a “complaint” from Richard Bellies, chairman of The Common Cause of Kentucky, concerning Bevin’s perceived unethical actions toward the Executive Branch Ethics Commission.

In this case, Richard Bellies is upset with Matt Bevin because, on June 28, according to the Star Herald, Bevin stripped the attorney general and state auditor of the ability to recommend a list of people to appoint to the Executive Branch Ethics Commission.

Naturally, Matt Bevin placing two-out-of-five of his own people in the ethics commission is convenient for him, because the one of the jobs of the Executive Branch Ethics Commission is helping to remove bad governors from office.

In a report from Daily Independent on July 16, they stated that to appoint two members to the Executive Branch Ethics Commission, Matt Bevin found a legal loophole because “[t]he commission staff had sought such a change [to the ethics commission selection process] through legislation, but the General Assembly didn’t pass the measure.”

In contrast, former Kentucky governor, Steve Beshear, wanted to make sure the Executive Branch Ethics Commission was not corrupt or partial toward him, and so he asked to be able to “select one member each from a list of nominations submitted by the Attorney General and the Auditor of Public Accounts.”

It should also be noted that Matt Bevin tried to slash the budget of the Executive Branch Ethics Commission earlier in the year, according to a February report from WKYT.

On top of this, the other ethics issue that can get Matt Bevin impeached finally had their “anonymous” source go public. Former Governor Steve Beshear told the public on May 10, according to AP, that Matt Bevin was being investigated by the FBI because he threatened a lawmaker in Kentucky.

According to Courier-Journal‘s report from Al Cross on July 15, the formerly anonymous lawmaker is State Representative Kevin Sinnette, a Democrat from Ashland, Kentucky.

Sinnette told news agencies on July 3 that Matt Bevin “tried to bully him into switching parties during a private meeting at the governor’s mansion on December 28, 2015.”

Adding to this, Matt Bevin allegedly told Kevin Sinnette, “If you don’t, I’ll do everything in my power to get you beat and take you down.” They also quoted Kevin Sinnette saying about Matt Bevin that “I know for a fact that others were subjected to the same kind of thing.”

In other words, the court cases have not been tried yet, but it is beginning to look like Matt Bevin will share the same fate as former governor, Ernie Fletcher, and eventually get impeached/unseated for ethics failures.

[Photo by Timothy D. Easley/AP Photos]