Kentucky governors will no longer be able to issue pardons and commute sentences at the end of their terms, as voters approved a constitutional amendment to limit their authority.
The amendment restricts a governor’s clemency powers in the 60 days leading up to a gubernatorial election, as well as the 35 days from that election to the inauguration.
The Associated Press called the ballot referendum shortly after 9 p.m. when roughly 61% of the vote was in, with 71% of Kentuckians voting in favor of the amendment.
The push to amend the constitution was spurred by the controversial pardons issued by former Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin just before leaving office in 2019. Bevin drew bipartisan outrage by releasing inmates serving long sentences for violent crimes, such as homicide and child sexual assault, including one whose family held a fundraiser for Bevin’s campaign.
Outraged by Bevin’s actions, Republican state Sen. Chris McDaniel of Ryland Heights first filed a bill to trigger a ballot amendment in January of 2020. He kept filing it every subsequent legislative session and steered it through the Senate multiple times, until the House followed suit earlier this year.
McDaniel argued that the amendment would preserve the governor’s authority to issue pardons throughout nearly their entire term, but force them make clemency actions before they face voters when seeking reelection. He says this would force governors to avoid making the controversial types of pardons issued by Bevin.
Opponents of the amendment made the case that politics should not factor into clemency decisions, as “lame duck” governors are able to deliver justice in some cases where doing so runs counter to public opinion.
Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear — who defeated Bevin in 2019 — was not in favor of the amendment, saying that voters should elect trustworthy leaders who would not issue bad pardons, instead of limiting every governor’s authority.
This is the first time Kentucky voters have approved a constitutional amendment since 2020, when they passed a crime victims’ rights measure by a wide margin. Voters rejected three proposed amendments advanced by Republicans in 2022 and 2024, which would have allowed the legislature to call themselves into session, enshrine that there is no right to an abortion in Kentucky, and allow public funds to go towards private education.
