BY: Thomas Novelly and Allison Ross , The Courier-Journal –

Attorney General Andy Beshear and Gov. Matt Bevin clashed Tuesday after Beshear followed through on his threat to challenge the governor’s reorganization of several education boards in court.

“The governor’s refusal to rescind or materially alter his unconstitutional executive orders dissolving and reorganizing independent education boards has caused my office to file a lawsuit in Franklin Circuit Court,” Beshear said in a statement Tuesday.

Bevin’s office quickly shot back, calling Beshear’s lawsuit “another example of (Beshear) placing politics above the law.”

“Last year … Beshear used the same statute to reorganize his office, and the General Assembly refused to accept his proposed changes,” Bevin press secretary Woody Maglinger said Tuesday afternoon. “Why didn’t he look in the mirror and sue himself? Why isn’t he being honest with the people of Kentucky?”

Beshear’s office fired off its own response to that statement, saying that “the court found a significant difference between a cabinet or division under the direct control of the governor or attorney general” and a board that was “created by the General Assembly to be independent.”

Beshear had threatened the lawsuit unless Bevin rescinded within seven days an executive order that added four non-voting advisers to the Kentucky Board of Education, created a charter schools advisory council and reformed or abolished and replaced several other committees and boards.

The governor said at the time that his changes were meant to “modernize and strengthen” the state’s education system and to pave the way for the implementation of some recently passed state education legislation.

But Beshear said the board and committee reorganizations overstepped the governor’s authority.

Beshear held off for a few days on his legal challenge after Bevin’s office announced it would alter the original executive order.

But Bevin’s new executive order, which was filed late Friday afternoon, apparently did not go far enough for Beshear.

The amended executive order that Bevin filed Friday was largely the same as his original one; the primary change appeared to be changing the number of voting members on the State Advisory Council for Exceptional Children and stipulating that the majority of members be people with disabilities or parents of children with disabilities.

In Beshear’s legal complaint against Bevin’s executive orders, he said that Bevin can’t “ignore, suspend, or materially alter the law.”

“This is not a step that I wanted to have to take,” Beshear said in a video Tuesday announcing his legal challenge. “We’ve provided the governor now with over nine days to fix and/or rescind his executive orders. In the end, while there may have been a few small changes, there are still significant constitutional and legal violations.”

Bevin, a Republican, and Beshear, a Democrat, have butted heads numerous times during their terms, including over issues related to Bevin’s limits on executive power.

This latest lawsuit from Beshear comes as a separate lawsuit filed by Beshear over Bevin’s attempt to abolish and reorganize the University of Louisville board of trustees by executive order is still pending in state Supreme Court.

Previous: Gov. Matt Bevin establishes charter school advisory council, restructures education boards

The Kentucky General Assembly in January passed a law allowing the governor to appoint a new U of L board.

Beshear’s latest lawsuit states that “time is of the essence” to adjudicate this matter to “prevent further harm to state constitutional and statutory law and state boards.”

The suit mentions a June 7 meeting where, according to the suit, Public Protection Cabinet Secretary David Dickerson allegedly told lawmakers about a plan for Bevin to issue multiple executive orders to reorganize 39 additional state boards in the near future.

The suit said that that meeting included discussions of Bevin reorganizing the state Board of Medical Licensure, the state Board of Nursing, state Board of Social Work and state Board of Architects, among others.

Beshear, in the video uploaded Tuesday, said that his legal challenge is not a partisan action.

“This is not Beshear versus Bevin,” he said. “This is about my job to enforce the Constitution, the separation of powers and to ultimately enforce those processes and laws that protect all of your liberty.”

Reach Reporter Thomas Novelly at 502-582-4465 or by email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @TomNovelly. Reporter Allison Ross can be reached at 502-582-4241. Follow the Courier-Journal’s education team at Facebook.com/SchooledCJ.