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Reps. Koenig, Massey file ‘impeachment’ bill so only House members can petition to remove


Staff report

Rep. Adam Koenig and Rep. C. Ed Massey, a Republican member of the House Impeachment Committee, have filed a bill that would allow only members of the House of Representations to file a written petition to impeach a state officer.

The petition would have to be signed by two other House members.

Rep. Koenig told WHAS that “We live in an extremely polarized universe and it is being used as a hammer to punish people and to show how smart or effective or mad they are about something. That’s not what impeachment is for.”

Ed Massey

This comes after impeachment petitions were filed this legislatives session against Gov. Andy Beshear and Attorney General Daniel Cameron which were ultimately dismissed by the impeachment committee. But the petitions were required by state law to be considered by the committee because they met the standard of the current law.

The current law, K.R.S. § 63.030 provides:

(1) Any person may, by written petition to the House of Representatives, signed by himself, verified by his own affidavit and the affidavits of such others as he deems necessary, and setting forth the facts, pray the impeachment of any officer.

(2) The House shall refer the petition to a committee, with power to send for persons and papers, to report thereon.

Rep. Koenig

The petitioners — private citizens — argued that Beshear violated the state and U.S. constitutions with a series of COVID-related mandates aimed at preventing the spread of the disease. One of the petitioners withdrew from the complaint when he was told impeachment was not the remedy for merely disagreeing with something. Two other petitions against Beshear by Take Back KY and the Kentucky Liberty Pac were also dismissed. Beshear said his actions saved lives.

The Kentucky Supreme Court had already upheld Beshear’s actions.

The complaint against Attorney General Cameron was signed by a group of people including three grand jurors who heard the investigation into the Breonna Taylor shooting death by Louisville police. Cameron argued he handled the case properly.

The impeachment committee recommended that neither the Governor nor the Attorney General should face removal from office.

Because the law says unsuccessful petitioners are required to pay legal fees incurred by the officer, the house panel asked Gov. Beshear and Attorney General Cameron to submit a “bill of costs.” The committee can also ask for reimbursement for pay to panel members and their legal counsel for their time.

Gov. Andy Beshear’s legal team has submitted a bill seeking nearly $18,000 in reimbursement from people who unsuccessfully pushed for his impeachment. The records show Beshear’s lawyers spent nearly 160 hours in successfully defending the Democratic governor against the impeachment petition.

Cameron’s office said that it would not seek reimbursement.


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One Comment

  1. Marv Dunn says:

    This bill makes some sense. A hand full of citizens should not be able to start an impeachment process. Some of those people are now looking at an $18,000 lawyer bill for what they did to the Governor.

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