Gov. Matt Bevin said Thursday he is open to changing the Kentucky Constitution so that the state’s attorney general and judges are appointed by the governor rather than being elected.
The Republican governor, who has had several legal run-ins with Attorney General Andy Beshear, called his Democratic nemesis “highly incompetent.” He also voice support for putting term limits on legislators.
Bevin’s wide-ranging comments came in response to questions from attendees at a conference of The Federalist Society’s chapters in Kentucky. Bevin spoke to the group in the Capitol’s House chamber before taking questions.
When asked whether he would support seeking the public’s approval for a constitutional amendment to appoint the attorney general, Bevin first said with a smile, “Oh, yeah.”
He then asked “How about our judges in general? Seriously.”
He added: “We have a remarkable number of people who have no business being judges. I mean none. They don’t have the competence even to be a private practice attorney who can bill at a rate that people would not pay. I’m not kidding.”
Bevin said potential judges first should pass “some kind of competency test.”
Of course if you've been keeping score, AG Beshear's biggest beef with Bevin is that he believes Bevin is abusing the power of his office to make wholesale changes to state boards without consulting the Kentucky General Assembly.
Bevin's solution to this is to change the state constitution to give him the power to appoint the Attorney General and state judges. And right now, if Republicans in the state legislature want to do that, they'd probably have the votes.
Matt Bevin's quickly growing used to power, isn't he? So much so that of course he wants more of it.
Especially if it means ridding the state of his critics.
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