LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A Kentucky lawmaker said it should not be so easy to file impeachment charges against elected officials.
Under current law, any Kentuckian can file a petition with the House of Representatives seeking to remove someone from office. And as a result, a House impeachment committee has dealt with a flurry of recent petitions filed against Gov. Andy Beshear, Attorney General Daniel Camero, and State Rep. Robert Goforth.
All were dismissed Tuesday, and Rep. Adam Koenig (R-Erlanger) now wants to change the rules of engagement.
“Someone's always wanting to get somebody out, and this is not the way to do it,” Koenig said.
Koenig has filed HB 378, which would require two members of the House to sign-off on any impeachment petition.
“This should be a clear and unambiguous breach of the public trust to remove an elected official,” he said.
Koenig said, in this super-charged political climate, impeachment has become weaponized.
“This should be used very infrequently, not was a way to hammer someone or punish someone," he said.
The chairman of the Impeachment Committee, Republican Rep. Jason Nemes of Louisville, did not weigh-in on Koenig's bill but agreed something needs to change.
“I think what we have now is cumbersome and perhaps unworkable,” Nemes said. “We don 't have recall elections in Kentucky, but I'm comfortable with the citizens having some role. I don't think it should be just one citizen.”
Koenig said his bill does not eliminate citizen involvement but does increase the burden of proof.
“You should be able to make a clear enough, compelling case that you can find two members of the House to file it,” Koenig said.
Both lawmakers agree the best way to solve political disagreements is at the ballot box.
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