Kentucky requires financial approvals and record sharing during leadership transitions

Executive branch agencies need approval for covered settlements and contracts, and statewide elected officers need approval for travel expenses. Settlement review covers executive branch bodies and their officers. Contract review covers executive branch agencies. Travel review covers Kentucky's seven statewide elected officers. The Attorney General must approve lawsuit settlements above $1 million after consulting the Finance and Administration Cabinet secretary. Agencies may make or renew contracts without competition only if the Finance and Administration Cabinet secretary and State Treasurer both certify an emergency need. Statewide elected officers submit travel expense requests to the Treasurer. The Treasurer submits those requests to the Auditor of Public Accounts instead. Settlement and contract review applies during the 180 days before a governor's inauguration. Travel review applies during each covered officer's final six months in office.

People involved in transition misconduct receive protection from criminal prosecution and ethics penalties if their evidence helps a case against a senior executive branch official. The protection covers people involved in possible criminal or ethics violations tied to the handover between outgoing and incoming statewide elected officers. The official must have participated in the conduct or directed the person to perform it. The evidence must assist a criminal prosecution or a finding that the official broke an ethics law. Lying under oath removes the protection. The person's testimony and evidence can then be used against them for that lie and the underlying conduct. The provision applies during the 12 months before and 12 months after a statewide elected officer takes the oath of office.

Covered former employees must complete a 24-month trial period in career-service jobs and receive no hiring or reemployment preference. The restriction concerns people moving from certain unclassified state jobs, outside the career-service system, into jobs within that system. The trial period applies even if the employee previously earned career-service protections. The rule points to a subsection that does not identify the covered former jobs, so its exact reach is unclear. The restriction applies to appointments made during the 18 months before a governor's inauguration.

Officials must preserve covered public records, and the Governor must share them with the incoming governor and transition team. The duty covers public records about the listed subjects, rather than every government document. Covered subjects include contracts, board appointments, permits and licenses, pardons, employee pay and promotions, litigation, and campaign donations. Knowingly violating department rules tied to this records duty is a Class A misdemeanor, a criminal offense, and makes the person liable for state losses. A state employee also faces dismissal if a hearing finds a serious violation. The employee keeps the right to appeal to the state personnel board. Records must be preserved during the 12 months before inauguration. The Governor must make them available the day after the Governor-elect is determined.

Covered state leaders and appointees require Senate confirmation. Fish and wildlife commission candidates must document their qualifications before nomination voting. Confirmation covers cabinet secretaries and specified education, wildlife, aviation, and building-regulation leaders and appointees. Covered education board and council chairs who are not confirmed lose the chair role but keep their seats. Their board or council must choose another chair. Wildlife commission candidates must submit a sworn statement and supporting documents at least 15 days before the nomination meeting. The department checks their qualifications. Candidates must have held hunting and fishing licenses for at least the previous five consecutive years, or hunted and fished in Kentucky while legally exempt from licenses throughout that period. Eligible voters are Kentucky residents licensed to hunt or fish in Kentucky for each of the past two consecutive years. Each may vote for one candidate; the five highest vote-getters are submitted to the Governor. The listed appointment and confirmation sections take effect April 16, 2026.