Rejected University Regent nominees sue Fletcher.

Murray state university Regent nominees, whose nominations were rejected by Fletcher, have filed a lawsuit. Read it here. They contend that the Gov., in rejecting their nominations, has violated KRS 164.005. That section provides pertinently: Governor's Postsecondary Education Nominating Committee. (1) There is established the Governor’s Postsecondary Education Nominating Committee which shall consist of seven (7) members representing each of the Supreme Court districts who shall be appointed by the Governor with the consent of the House of Representatives and the Senate. ... (2) (a) The committee shall be responsible for submitting three (3) nominations from which the Governor shall select each gubernatorial appointment to a university or Kentucky Community and Technical College System governing board made pursuant to KRS 164.131, 164.321, and 164.821 and to the Council on Postsecondary Education pursuant to KRS 164.011. ... The Governor shall select the appointees from among the nominees.
The Gov. insists that under a different statute, he has the right to reject names submitted to him. That statute, KRS 12.070 provides as pertinent: Boards and Commissions. (3) Where appointments to administrative boards and commissions are made from lists submitted to him, the Governor may reject the list and require that other lists be submitted. Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary, in the event the current membership of a board or commission reflects a proportion of the minority group less than the proportion of the minority group in the total population of the Commonwealth, then the Governor may appoint a member of the minority group even if the list of nominees for a vacancy does not include a member of the minority group.

Here is my take on the controversy: The issue here becomes how to reconcile the MANDATORY "shall" provisions of the first (dealing specifically with appointments to university boards) and the PERMISSIVE "may" provisions of the second (dealing with the general subject of boards and commissions). The established rules of statutory construction require that new laws on the same subject matter supercede the old and special laws take precedence over general laws, unless the Legislature has expressed a different intent. In this matter the special "shall" provisions, which became effective in 2003, will take precedence over the general "may" provisions, which became effective in 1994, requiring that, in the case of Regents' appontments, the Gov. CANNOT reject the list of names submitted to him by the nominating committee (unless a minority applicant is desired) and MUST select from that list.