FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A petition seeking the impeachment of Kentucky’s attorney general was filed Friday by three grand jurors who criticized his handling of an investigation into Breonna Taylor’s shooting death by police.

The petition’s allegations against Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron include breach of public trust and failure to comply with his duties as the state’s chief law enforcement official. They do not accuse him of any crimes, but impeachment is not considered a criminal proceeding.

The petition is the latest in a flurry of tit-for-tat efforts to impeach Kentucky elected officials. Four Kentucky citizens recently petitioned the state House of Representatives to impeach Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear for executive actions he took in response to the coronavirus pandemic, and the matter was assigned to a House committee for review.

Beshear’s actions had been upheld by the state Supreme Court, and the governor says there are “zero grounds” for his removal.

Kentucky law requires impeachment petitions to be referred to a House committee but does not require any further action. Under the state’s constitution, the House possesses the sole power of impeachment. An impeachment trial is held in the state Senate, with a conviction requiring the support of two-thirds of the senators present.

The petition against Cameron, signed by a handful of Kentuckians, was submitted to the overwhelmingly Republican Kentucky House. Cameron is a close ally of U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and is seen as a rising GOP star.

Cameron’s office did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

The petition’s signers include an attorney who did so on behalf of three grand jurors who have accused Cameron of misleading the public when describing the grand jury proceedings.

Cameron was the special prosecutor who investigated the actions of the Louisville police officers involved in the fatal shooting of Taylor during a warrant search last year. The investigation culminated in a grand jury ruling that did not charge any of the officers in the Black woman’s death. The shooting sparked protests in Louisville alongside national protests over racial injustice and police misconduct.

The petition is the latest seeking the ouster of prominent Kentucky officeholders. Another petition is seeking the ouster of Republican state Rep. Robert Goforth for an incident in which he allegedly tried to strangle a woman. Goforth, a former gubernatorial candidate, pleaded not guilty after his indictment on charges of strangulation and assault. The case is pending.

The petition against Cameron revives allegations raised anonymously by the three grand jurors. It accuses him of deceiving the public regarding his handling of the investigation into Taylor’s death.

Cameron had said in a widely viewed news conference that the grand jury had agreed that the officers who shot Taylor were justified because they were fired at by Taylor’s boyfriend. Officers fired 32 rounds into the home, five of which struck Taylor.

The three grand jurors said they did not agree and wanted to explore criminal charges, but said they were denied because Cameron’s prosecutors believed none of those charges would stick.

The impeachment petition was signed on their behalf by their Louisville attorney, Kevin Glogower.

“The grand jurors did not choose this battle,” Glogower said in a statement Friday. “This battle chose them. These are randomly selected citizens who were compelled to sit on a grand jury and were terribly misused by the most powerful law enforcement official in Kentucky.”

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Lovan reported from Louisville, Kentucky.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Three grand jurors in the Breonna Taylor case filed a petition with the Kentucky House of Representatives Friday to impeach Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron.

The petition alleges Cameron misled the public about the case and misrepresented the grand jury’s actions. The petition was filed by the attorney representing the three unnamed grand jurors.

The petition’s allegations against Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron include breach of public trust and failure to comply with his duties as the state’s chief law enforcement official. They do not accuse him of any crimes, but impeachment is not considered a criminal proceeding.

The petition against Cameron, signed by a handful of Kentuckians, was submitted to the overwhelmingly Republican Kentucky House. Cameron is a close ally of U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and is seen as a rising GOP star.

The petition’s signers include an attorney who did so on behalf of three grand jurors who have accused Cameron of misleading the public when describing the grand jury proceedings.

Cameron was the special prosecutor who investigated the actions of the Louisville police officers involved in the fatal shooting of Taylor during a warrant search last year. The investigation culminated in a grand jury ruling that did not charge any of the officers in the Black woman’s death. The shooting sparked protests in Louisville alongside national protests over racial injustice and police misconduct.

The petition against Cameron revives allegations raised anonymously by the three grand jurors. It accuses him of deceiving the public regarding his handling of the investigation into Taylor’s death.

Cameron had said in a widely viewed news conference that the grand jury had agreed that the officers who shot Taylor were justified because they were fired at by Taylor’s boyfriend. Officers fired 32 rounds into the home, five of which struck Taylor.

The three grand jurors said they did not agree and wanted to explore criminal charges, but said they were denied because Cameron’s prosecutors believed none of those charges would stick.

The impeachment petition was signed on their behalf by their Louisville attorney, Kevin Glogower.

“The grand jurors did not choose this battle,” Glogower said in a statement Friday. “This battle chose them. These are randomly selected citizens who were compelled to sit on a grand jury and were terribly misused by the most powerful law enforcement official in Kentucky.”

House Speaker David Osborne said he has received the petition to impeach Cameron, but is reserving comment until it is reviewed.

The petition is the latest in a flurry of tit-for-tat efforts to impeach Kentucky elected officials. Four Kentucky citizens recently petitioned the state House of Representatives to impeach Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear for executive actions he took in response to the coronavirus pandemic, and the matter was assigned to a House committee for review.

Kentucky law requires impeachment petitions to be referred to a House committee but does not require any further action. Under the state’s constitution, the House possesses the sole power of impeachment. An impeachment trial is held in the state Senate, with a conviction requiring the support of two-thirds of the senators present.

Another petition is seeking the ouster of Republican state Rep. Robert Goforth for an incident in which he allegedly tried to strangle a woman. Goforth, a former gubernatorial candidate, pleaded not guilty after his indictment on charges of strangulation and assault. The case is pending.

This article was written by WLEX.

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A Republican-led legislative panel dismissed two petitions Friday calling for Gov. Andy Beshear’s impeachment but kept alive another effort by citizens seeking the Democrat’s ouster for his restrictions to combat the spread of COVID-19 in Kentucky.

The rejected petitions were the latest in a flurry of filings aiming to unseat prominent political leaders in Kentucky, an unprecedented phenomenon in the state’s recent history. Another pending petition targets the state’s Republican attorney general.

The two anti-Beshear petitions were dismissed for failing to meet statutory requirements, said Republican Rep. Jason Nemes, the committee chairman.

But the House panel renewed its request for more information from Beshear as it reviews the remaining petition, the first one filed against the governor, Nemes said. Just four Kentuckians signed that petition, though one of them signaled he wants to withdraw. All three petitions claim the governor improperly infringed on individual rights with his coronavirus-related orders.

Kentucky’s Supreme Court ruled last year that the governor had the authority to put restrictions on businesses and individuals to try to contain the coronavirus.

The House impeachment panel previously sought information from Beshear on how his virus-related ban on mass gatherings last spring was temporarily enforced against churches, a move that especially angered conservatives. The committee resubmitted its request Friday that the governor turn over emails, phone logs or other communications related to that order.

In his letter to the governor’s lawyer, Nemes said the records “may be subpoenaed” if necessary. The lack of those records has “delayed the process,” Nemes said.

Beshear’s office said a response will be submitted Monday. His general counsel previously replied that the “extraneous information” being sought “cannot form the basis for impeachment.”

The impeachment frenzy reflects a willingness by some Kentuckians to shatter long-established political norms in an increasingly bitter political divide. It follows closely on the heels of the second impeachment of former President Donald Trump.

Beshear says there are “zero grounds” for his removal and maintains his COVID-19 orders have saved lives. He portrays the petitioners seeking his ouster as anti-government extremists.

Information compiled by Johns Hopkins University shows that Kentucky has recorded 87.7 deaths per 100,000 people, the 42nd highest per-capita rate nationally and better than neighboring states.

The House committee met behind closed doors for nearly three hours Friday, continuing its practice of long private discussions to review the impeachment petitions. The panel consists of four Republicans and three Democrats.

“The committee is slow moving, but that’s very necessary because of how serious this task is,” Democratic Rep. Angie Hatton, a committee member, told reporters after Friday’s meeting. “We at least are satisfied that we are getting a say.”

The committee also requested additional information from Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron. The petition calling for Cameron’s impeachment includes three grand jurors who criticized his handling of the investigation into Breonna Taylor’s shooting death by police last year.

The committee on Friday asked Cameron to produce any audio recording or transcript of his team’s instructions to the Taylor grand jury not already released and which he possesses. Cameron’s office declined comment on the committee request.

In the Taylor case, one officer was charged for allegedly firing into an adjacent apartment, but the three grand jurors said prosecutors never gave them the option to consider charges against the officers who fatally shot the Louisville woman.

Cameron has stood by his investigation into Taylor’s death, which fueled protests over racial injustice. He said his team followed the law and presented a thorough case to the grand jury, adding that the petition against him was “so lacking in legal and factual support” it should be dismissed.

The petition alleges Cameron breached public trust and failed to comply with his duties in his handling of the Taylor case and then misrepresented the grand jury’s work to the public.

The House committee set a Monday evening deadline for Beshear and Cameron to submit the additional information. Nemes said the panel will reconvene sometime after that.

Nemes said he didn’t know how long the committee’s reviews of the remaining petitions will last, saying the lawmakers are doing their “due diligence.”

“I don’t know how long it will take, how many meetings,” he said. “But we’re working with all deliberate speed to get this very important matter taken care of appropriately.”

The panel had no update on another impeachment petition filed against GOP state Rep. Robert Goforth, a former gubernatorial candidate who was indicted for allegedly trying to strangle a woman. Goforth has pleaded not guilty, and the case is pending.

Impeachment is a card rarely played in any serious way in the Bluegrass State, though Kentucky has had its share of provocative elected officials. Four constitutional officers have been impeached in Kentucky history, but only one was convicted. James “Honest Dick” Tate, a 19th-century state treasurer, was ousted for stealing $250,000 from the state and fled the country.

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Hudspeth Blackburn is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

ALEXANDRIA, Ky. — Kentucky’s mask mandate legal battle began Wednesday, less than a day after Gov. Andy Beshear imposed an order requiring people to wear masks inside schools and child care centers.

Attorney General Daniel Cameron filed documents that morning in the Kentucky Supreme Court, challenging that order.

“The Governor does not have to choose between following the science and following the law,” Cameron said. “The two can and should work together."

Elsewhere in the commonwealth, some Northern Kentucky schools began the first day of classes by complying with Beshear's order.

"My granddaughter is in sixth grade, and she's okay with the mask, and I am, too, because there is so much going on right now,” Teri Rankin told us at pickup time outside Campbell County Middle School.

Joan Orme was also there picking up grandchildren. “Exactly, and my husband is ill, and I can’t have the grandkids coming in and bringing us something we can’t handle, you know?” said Orme.

Beshear said his order aims to protect those who can’t get the vaccine.

He put the mandate in place after some school administrators indicated they would not follow his administration — and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's — recommendation that students and staff mask indoors. His mandate requires everyone 2 years old and up to cover their nose and mouth while inside.

Exceptions include: those sleeping, those who can’t remove the covering on their own, any person with a disability or impairment that prevents them from wearing one, those deaf or hard of hearing trying to communicate. To see a complete list of exceptions, click here.

“With the younger kids, it just seems difficult,” said Liz Reeder, a mother from Wilder with a 2- and a 4-year-old.

“It just seems like a hard decision if you’re not going to get good compliance from people,” she said.

Attorney General Cameron’s challenge points to a Boone County Circuit Court injunction from June, which centers on Beans Café & Baker’s complaint about mask mandates. Plus, AG Cameron said, lawmakers voted to restrict the governor’s power in the 2021 session.

“If he believes that the science requires a statewide mask mandate for schools and childcare centers, then he needs to do what the law requires and work with the General Assembly to put the necessary health precautions in place," Cameron said.

WCPO 9News checked each of the major Northern Kentucky school districts. Administrators from each district say they are following the governor's mandate.

EDGEWOOD, Ky. — Four former health care workers were sentenced to a year in prison after they pleaded guilty to restraining a senior in their care for 15 hours by placing heavy bags on them, Attorney General Daniel Cameron announced Thursday.

The case involved two certified nursing assistants, 28-year-old Ellyssa Klein and 31-year-old Sandra Nobbe, and two registered nurses, 74-year-old Gary Ray and 33-year-old Ashley Flower. All of them worked in the Behavioral Health Unit at St. Elizabeth Edgewood.

The four restrained an elderly patient by "arranging furniture around the patient's medical recliner chair" and placing two therapeutic water bags, weighing more than 35 pounds each, on top of the patient, Cameron said. The patient was restrained this way for 15 hours on July 1 and July 2, 2015.

On April 1, 2021, Klein, Nobbe and Ray pleaded guilty to reckless abuse or neglect of an adult, a Class A misdemeanor. The three were sentenced to one year in prison, conditionally discharged for two years. As a condition of their plea, the three had to forfeit their professional licenses and resolve an administrative case with the Cabinet for Health and Family Services stemming from the abuse.

They will also be placed on the Caregiver Misconduct Registry for the next seven years.

On May 20, Flower also pleaded guilty to reckless abuse or neglect of an adult and was sentenced to a year in prison, conditionally discharged for two years. Flower also had to forfeit her professional license.

“The most vulnerable members of our Kentucky family deserve protection, and we will not tolerate abuse or neglect by those charged with their care,” Cameron said in the announcement. “I appreciate the work of our Medicaid Fraud and Abuse Control Unit to hold accountable those responsible for these terrible actions, and I urge anyone with information regarding suspected abuse to contact our office at 1-877-ABUSE TIP.”

The Office of Medicaid Fraud and Abuse Control prosecuted the case.

If you or someone you know is a victim of abuse, neglect or exploitation in a Kentucky Medicaid facility, contact the Attorney General’s elder abuse tip line at 1-877-228-7384.