GOVERNOR'S JOURNAL     Printable Version

Section 91 of the Constitution of Kentucky requires the secretary of state to "keep a fair register of and attest all the official acts of the Governor, and shall, when required, lay the same and all papers, minutes and vouchers relative thereto before either House of the General Assembly".

In most instances, the official acts of the governor are formatted as executive orders. After the governor signs an executive order, the order and any accompanying documents are delivered to the secretary of state for filing. The secretary of state attests the governor's signature and the Great Seal of the Commonwealth is affixed. Although proclamations are not generated by executive order, proclamations are filed with the secretary of state as an official act of the governor. A summary of each executive order and official act is entered into the register mandated by the Constitution. Registers, also known as Governor's Journals or Executive Journals, are housed with the secretary of state's office in the Capitol Building in Frankfort. When it is determined the Governor's Journals are no longer needed for immediate access, the volumes are transferred to the Kentucky Department for Libraries & Archives for preservation. Researchers may study microfilm of Governor's Journals & Indices, (1792-1927) by visiting the Department for Libraries & Archives and the Kentucky History Center Library.

This website allows researchers to search selected Executive Orders and other official filings in the Executive Journal. Search by: Type of Filing; Executive Order Number; Date of Signing by the Governor; Date of Filing in the Secretary of State's Office; Name (ex. name of appointee); or Description (ex. a proclamation pertaining to a festival or particular observance). The results will allow you to view the scanned images of the actual filing (when available) by either downloading a multi-page PDF (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader), downloading a multi-page TIFF image (requiring a third party TIFF viewer)

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