{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-164.131","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 164.131","heading":"Board of Trustees of University of Kentucky -- Membership -- Terms --","body":"Grounds for removal and replacement of all board members.\n(1) (a) The government of the University of Kentucky is vested in a board of trustees\nappointed for a term s et by law pursuant to Section 23 of the Constitution of\nKentucky.\n(b) 1. All appointed and elected persons shall be required to attend and\ncomplete an orientation and education program prescribed by the\ncouncil under KRS 164.020(24), as a condition of thei r service and\neligibility for appointment or election to a second term.\n2. Attendance at an orientation and education program required in\nsubparagraph 1. of this paragraph shall not constitute a meeting for the\npurposes of KRS 61.800 to 61.850 if official action is not taken,\nregardless of how many board members are in attendance.\n(c) The board shall periodically evaluate the institution's progress in\nimplementing its missions, goals, and objectives to conform to the strategic\nagenda. Officers and officials  shall be held accountable for the status of the\ninstitution's progress.\n(d) Board members may be removed by the Governor under the following\ncircumstances:\n1. For cause, pursuant to KRS 63.080(2); or\n2. Pursuant to KRS 63.080(3) or (4).\n(e) The board shall consist of sixteen (16) members appointed by the Governor,\ntwo (2) members of the faculty of the University of Kentucky, one (1)\nmember of the University of Kentucky nonteaching personnel, and one (1)\nmember of the student body of the Unive rsity of Kentucky. The members\nappointed by the Governor shall be subject to confirmation by the Senate. The\nvoting members of the board shall select a chairperson annually.\n(2) (a) The terms of the appointed members shall be for six (6) years and until th eir\nsuccessors are appointed and qualified, unless a member is removed by the\nGovernor pursuant to KRS 63.080(2), (3), or (4), except the initial\nappointments shall be as follows:\n1. Two (2) members shall serve one (1) year terms;\n2. Two (2) members shall serve two (2) year terms, one (1) of whom shall\nbe a graduate of the university, selected from a list of three (3) names\nsubmitted by the alumni of the university according to rules established\nby the board of trustees;\n3. Three (3) members shall serve three (3) year terms;\n4. Three (3) members shall serve four (4) year terms, one (1) of whom\nshall be a graduate of the university, selected as under subparagraph 2.\nof this subsection;\n5. Three (3) members shall serve five (5) year terms; and\n6. Three (3) members shall serve six (6) year terms, one (1) of whom shall\nbe a graduate of the university, selected as under subparagraph 2. of this\nsubsection.\n(b) 1. Three (3) of the appointments shall be graduates of the university and\nmay include one (1) graduate of the institution who resides outside the\nCommonwealth;\n2. Three (3) shall be representative of agricultural interests; and\n3. Ten (10) shall be other distinguished citizens representative of the\nlearned professions and may include one (1) who resides outsid e of\nKentucky.\n(c) The Governor shall make the appointments so as to reflect proportional\nrepresentation of the two (2) leading political parties of the Commonwealth\nbased on the state's voter registration and the political affiliation of each\nappointee as  of December 31 of the year preceding the date of his or her\nappointment, and to reflect no less than proportional representation of the\nminority racial composition of the Commonwealth based on the total minority\nracial population using the most recent cen sus or estimate data from the\nUnited States Census Bureau. If the determination of proportional minority\nrepresentation does not result in a whole number of minority members, it shall\nbe rounded up to the next whole number. A particular political affiliation shall\nnot be a prerequisite to appointment to the board generally; however, if any\nperson is appointed to the board that does not represent either of the two (2)\nleading political parties of the Commonwealth, the proportional representation\nby political affiliation requirement shall be determined and satisfied based on\nthe total number of members on the board less any members not affiliated\nwith either of the two (2) leading political parties.\n(d) Appointments to fill vacancies shall be made for the unex pired term in the\nsame manner as provided for the original appointments.\n(3) The two (2) University of Kentucky faculty members shall be of the rank of\nassistant professor or above. They shall be elected by secret ballot by all University\nof Kentucky facul ty members of the rank of assistant professor or above. Faculty\nmembers shall serve for terms of three (3) years and until their successors are\nelected and qualified. Faculty members shall be eligible for reelection, but they\nshall be ineligible to continu e to serve as members of the board of trustees if they\ncease to be members of the faculty of the university. Elections to fill vacancies shall\nbe for the unexpired term in the same manner as provided for original elections.\n(4) The nonteaching personnel me mber shall be any full -time staff member, excluding\nthe president, vice -presidents, academic deans, and academic department\nchairpersons. The staff member shall represent all nonteaching university\nemployees, including but not limited to building facilitie s and clerical personnel.\nThe staff member shall be elected by secret ballot by the nonteaching employees.\nThe staff member shall serve a term of three (3) years and until a successor is\nelected and qualified. The staff member shall be eligible for reelect ion, but a staff\nmember who ceases being an employee of the university shall not be eligible to\ncontinue to serve as a member of the board. Elections to fill vacancies shall be for\nthe unexpired term and shall be held in the same manner as provided for the\noriginal election.\n(5) The student member shall serve a one (1) year term beginning on July 1 after being\nelected and sworn in as student body president and ending on the following June\n30. If the student member does not maintain the position of student b ody president\nor the status of a full -time student at any time during that academic year, a special\nelection shall be held to select a full -time student member. The elected student\nmember shall serve for the remainder of the unexpired term.\n(6) The number of student and employee trustees of the University of Kentucky elected\nto the board shall not exceed four (4).\n(7) Unless specifically approved by the board of trustees under the provisions of KRS\n164.367, no member of the administrative staff of the unive rsity shall be directly or\nindirectly interested in any contract with the university for the sale of property,\nmaterials, supplies, equipment, or services, with exception of compensation to the\ntwo (2) faculty members, and the one (1) nonteaching personnel member.\n(8) New appointees of the board shall not serve more than two (2) consecutive terms.\n(9) The inability of the board to hold regular meetings, to elect a chairperson annually,\nto establish a quorum, to adopt an annual budget, to set tuition rates, to conduct an\nannual evaluation of the president of the university, or to carry out its primary\nfunction to periodically evaluate the institution's progress in implementing its\nmission, goals, and objectives to conform to the strategic agenda shall be caus e for\nthe Governor to remove all appointed members of the board and replace the entire\nappointed membership pursuant to KRS 63.080(4).","path":["KRS Chapter 164"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=58015","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:51:14Z","sha256":"b127beb9039f7d232754e249221ecc4e0ddfa645e7b3c4da95e1c81d94ba4f02","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-164.130","next":"us-ky/krs-164.140"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}