Supreme Court Denies AG Beshear's Petition for Rehearing in Opioid Contract Case

Statement

The Supreme Court today unanimously denied Attorney General Andy Beshear's petition for rehearing in an opioid attorney contract case in which Beshear argued that he could give uncapped and unsupervised state contracts to his largest campaign donor without following state contracting laws.

In August, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that Andy Beshear broke the law in awarding an uncapped legal contract in ongoing opioid cases.

The Finance and Administration Cabinet has maintained that the Attorney General should be subject to the same procurement laws as all other state agencies. The Supreme Court's unanimous ruling affirmed the Finance Cabinet's position, and today's denial by the Court for a rehearing ends the case once and for all in the Bevin Administration's favor.

"This decision does not prohibit the Attorney General from obtaining outside legal representation in cases against opioid manufacturers, but it requires him to do so legally," said Bevin Communications Director Elizabeth Kuhn. "The people of Kentucky should be the primary beneficiaries of any opioid settlements, not Andy Beshear's friends and donors with huge contingency fee contracts. The Supreme Court's denial of a rehearing today shows that the Court is firm in its position that the Attorney General is not above the law and must comply with it just like every other state agency."

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