Kentucky voters to decide whether to restrict governor’s pardon power

CORBIN, Ky. (LEX NEWS) — In the upcoming election, Kentucky voters will decide whether to amend the state constitution to restrict a governor’s ability to issue pardons and commute sentences in the weeks surrounding a gubernatorial election.

Amendment 1 would prohibit a governor from granting pardons or commuting sentences beginning 60 days before a gubernatorial election and continuing through inauguration, which is the fifth Tuesday after the election.

The proposal comes seven years after former Gov. Matt Bevin sparked controversy with pardons and commutations issued during his final days in office after losing the 2019 election.

Republican state Sen. Chris McDaniel, who pushed for the constitutional change, stopped in Corbin on Tuesday to encourage voters to support the amendment.

McDaniel said the proposal is intended to prevent governors from issuing last-minute pardons without facing voters afterward.

McDaniel said governors from both political parties have issued questionable pardons in the past. But Bevin’s actions after the 2019 election brought renewed scrutiny to Kentucky’s pardon process.

In his final days in office, Bevin issued more than 600 pardons and commutations, including for convicted murderers and child rapists.

“There was no accountability mechanism whatsoever,” McDaniel said. “I still think back on that and realize what a terrible miscarriage of justice it was.”

Under Amendment 1, the governor would be barred from granting pardons or commuting sentences during the 60 days before a gubernatorial election and during the period between the election and inauguration.

McDaniel said the timing is designed to ensure voters have an opportunity to hold a governor, or the governor’s political party, accountable for controversial pardons issued near an election.

“In the political world, there’s no greater accountability than standing in front of the voters,” McDaniel said. “So, what we wanted to make sure of is that if a governor felt the need to issue a pardon, that he or she or their party would then have to stand in front of voters who have full information about the pardons that have been issued.”

Extending the prohibition through inauguration would also prevent an outgoing governor who loses an election from issuing pardons during the final days in office.

What voters will see on the ballot

The ballot question asks:

“Are you in favor of limiting a Governor's ability to grant pardons or commute sentences by prohibiting him or her from granting pardons or commuting sentences during the time period beginning 60 days prior to the general election at which the Governor is elected, and ending when the Governor is sworn in for that term by amending the Constitution of Kentucky as stated below?”

The proposed amendment to Section 77 of the Kentucky Constitution states:

(1) The Governor shall have power to: (a) Remit fines and forfeitures; and (b) Commute sentences and grant reprieves and pardons, except:
1. In case of impeachment; or 2. For the period beginning sixty days prior to the date of the gubernatorial election and ending the fifth Tuesday succeeding the election.
(2) The Governor shall file with each application therefor a statement of the reasons for his or her decision thereon, which application and statement shall always be open to public inspection.
(3) In cases of treason, the Governor shall have power to grant reprieves until the end of the next session of the General Assembly, in which the power of pardoning shall be vested; but he or she shall have no power to remit the fees of the Clerk, Sheriff or Commonwealth's Attorney in penal or criminal cases.