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)
