Kentucky Constitution Articles 4. Impeachments
Kentucky Constitution – Article IV: Impeachments
Overview:
Article IV of the Kentucky Constitution outlines the impeachment process for public officials in the state. It establishes who can be impeached, who carries out the impeachment, and what consequences may result.
🔹 Key Provisions of Article IV:
Section 1 – Power to Impeach
The House of Representatives has the sole power to impeach any officer of the state.
Section 2 – Trial of Impeachment
Impeachments are tried by the Senate.
When the Senate is sitting as a court of impeachment, Senators must be under oath.
A two-thirds vote of the Senators present is required for conviction.
Section 3 – Grounds and Consequences
Officials can be impeached for maladministration, corruption, incompetency, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.
If convicted, the official is removed from office and may also be disqualified from holding future office.
However, the impeached individual is still subject to criminal trial in the courts, meaning impeachment does not protect from further prosecution.
🔹 Summary:
Kentucky’s impeachment process is modeled closely on the U.S. federal system, with:
The House acting as the prosecutor, and
The Senate acting as the jury.
It provides a constitutional mechanism for holding public officials accountable for serious misconduct.
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