Kentucky auditor sends Beshear familiar names as nominations for ethics commission

Republican Auditor Allison Ball is requesting some familiar faces join the Executive Branch Ethics Commission. 

Ball’s office issued a press release with her nominations Wednesday morning, along with a letter to Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear. 

Ball’s nominees are: 

• Christine Trout Van Tatenhove, who is special counsel to Republican House Speaker David Osborne and the wife of former Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove. He was appointed to the bench by President George W. Bush and recently became the dean of the University of Kentucky College of Law. 
• Former Kentucky Supreme Court Chief Justice Laurance VanMeter, who is the husband of Fayette Circuit Judge Lucy VanMeter. She is currently running for a spot on the Court of Appeals against Judge Will Moynahan, a Beshear appointee. 
• David Beck, the former president and CEO of Kentucky Venues who was removed from the role over the summer after the Supreme Court ruled a 2021 law that would have removed control of the board from the governor was unconstitutional. 

“All of these individuals will honorably, faithfully, and aptly serve the Commonwealth through service on the Commission,” Ball wrote to Beshear. “I look forward to your expeditious appointment of one of these individuals to the Commission.”

In June, the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled that 2022 law giving other executive branch officials besides the governor appointment power over the Executive Branch Ethics Commission was unconstitutional, along with the state fair board law. The Republican-controlled General Assembly had approved both laws during Beshear’s first term as governor. Republicans in the executive branch asked the high court to reconsider the decision. 

The auditor’s nominations are made under a previous process outlined in a 2020 executive order from Beshear, which she cited in her letter to him. That says that the attorney general and auditor may give the governor a list of three names, and he will choose a representative among them for the commission. 

The Executive Branch Ethics Commission oversees ethics standards for all executive branch employees.