The Kentucky Supreme Court will hold a hearing on Sept. 17 on whether Gov. Andy Beshear's emergency executive orders during the COVID-19 pandemic are valid — or, as a Boone Circuit judge ruled, they must be struck down.
At stake are dozens of emergency orders ranging from limits on crowd sizes at events and classes at day care programs to a requirement for most Kentuckians to wear a mask in public.
The hearing date, announced Friday in an order by Chief Justice John D. Minton, follows legal challenges in Boone and Scott counties by parties seeking to overturn the orders by Beshear, a Democrat.
Challengers to the orders now include Attorney General Daniel Cameron and state Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles, both Republicans.
The order said the hearing may be held remotely.
The Supreme Court, in the order seeking to sort out the challenges, said it will take up only the Boone County case at the hearing next month.
See also: Beshear mandates 10 p.m. last call curfew for restaurants, bars
That's because the Boone County case, brought on behalf of the Florence Speedway, a local child care center and other Northern Kentucky businesses, is the only dispute in which a lower court judge issued a final order, Minton's order said.
In July, Boone Circuit Judge Richard Brueggemann declared Beshear's emergency COVID-19 orders unconstitutional, but by then, because the Supreme Court had already taken control of the dispute, the order had no effect.
On July 17, the Supreme Court announced it was taking over jurisdiction of the legal challenges, citing "the need for a clear and consistent statewide public health policy and recognizing that the Kentucky legislature has expressly given the governor broad executive powers in a public health emergency."
For now, the Supreme Court has set aside acting on a separate challenge in Scott County brought by Quarles and a local cider mill and tourist attraction, arguing the limits on crowds and public gatherings were harmful to agritourism businesses.
Minton's order said that case isn't ready for review because Scott County Judge Brian Privett has yet to enter a final order in the case, although he had issued a temporary restraining order that would have blocked Beshear's executive orders.
But that order was also blocked when the Supreme Court took over the cases.
New COVID-19 rules: No Kentucky State Fair crowds. Masks. A bar curfew.
Minton's order said the Supreme Court will defer review of that case until the Scott County judge issues a final order or until the high court decides the case from Boone County.
While the pending cases would affect all of Beshear's executive orders, most of the attention has focused on his order in July for people to wear a mask in public to prevent the spread of the virus.
Beshear announced Thursday he plans to extend the 30-day mask order for another 30 days.
Both Cameron and Quarles said they do not object to wearing masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19 but question the procedures Beshear used to issue that and other orders.
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Reach Deborah Yetter at dyetter@courier-journal.com or 502-582-4228. Find her on Twitter at @d_yetter. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/subscribe.
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