Attorney General Daniel Cameron announced Thursday that a Scott County Circuit Judge ordered Governor Andy Beshear to stop issuing executive orders related to COVID-19 unless it specifically meets specific criteria for an emergency.
In a release from Cameron’s office, the judge said that Beshear must “specify the state of emergency that requires the executive order, the location of the emergency, and the name of the local emergency management agency that has determined that the emergency is beyond its capabilities.”
Speaking on the decision, the attorney general said, “This is a clear win for the rule of law and will help Kentucky families and businesses across the Commonwealth who have suffered and continue to suffer financial losses and economic hardship because of the Governor’s executive orders.”
The ruling stems from a lawsuit filed by Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles and a Georgetown based agritourism business. The business said that they were told by local health officials at one point that they could not allow more than 10 people at a time inside their nearly 100,000 sq. foot facility.
The order stops the enforcement of Beshear’s executive orders as they apply to Kentucky’s 548 agritourism businesses.
In response to the lawsuit, Beshear said that the ruling would be appealed to the state’s appeals court and would go to the Supreme Court if necessary.
“We’ll beat ‘em in court, and just because the circuit judge there thinks he’s an epidemiologist and we don’t need any type of restrictions, I know that’s not the case,” Beshear said.
The governor issued a new executive order on Thursday that goes into effect Friday afternoon that will require face masks in public. In doing so, Kentucky became the 23rd state to create a similar order.
By: Sam Gormley, Local News
(Photo of Governor Beshear and AG Cameron by AP)
