Opinion ID: 2277556
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Main Issue and the Standard of Review.

Text: KRS 164.011(1) clearly purports to require Fox to be confirmed by both chambers of the General Assembly. This bicameral confirmation requirement goes to the heart of Fox's complaint. Essentially, Fox argues that the bicameral confirmation requirement for members of the CPE contained in KRS 164.011(1) violates § 93 of the Kentucky Constitution. In Fox's view, § 93 permits only the Senate to confirm appointees. By contrast, the Governor contends the phrase in § 93 regarding confirmation by the Senate is merely illustrative of how appointees such as Fox could be confirmed; but the phrase was not meant to preclude confirmation by both chambers of the General Assembly. We agree with Fox. Although the parties, oddly, do not focus upon it, the procedural stance of this appeal does not require us to determine as a matter of law whether Fox should prevail in her quest to regain her seat on the CPE. We see the question properly before us as far narrower: did the trial court err by granting the Governor's CR 12.02 motion to dismiss Fox's complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted? In other words, our conclusion that § 93 prohibits bicameral confirmation does not end this case because little or no proof was adduced at the trial court level before the Governor filed his motion to dismiss; and Fox never filed a dispositive motion before the trial court. The Governor has not even filed an answer to Fox's complaint. On remand, the Governor and Miller may raise whatever other defenses or legal reasons they believe preclude Fox from regaining her seat on the CPE; and Fox may present whatever evidence or legal arguments she deems necessary to convince the trial court to order her CPE seat to be restored to her. A motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted admits as true the material facts of the complaint. [17] So a court should not grant such a motion unless it appears the pleading party would not be entitled to relief under any set of facts which could be proved.... [18] Accordingly, the pleadings should be liberally construed in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, all allegations being taken as true. [19] This exacting standard of review eliminates any need by the trial court to make findings of fact; rather, the question is purely a matter of law. Stated another way, the court must ask if the facts alleged in the complaint can be proved, would the plaintiff be entitled to relief? [20] Since a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted is a pure question of law, a reviewing court owes no deference to a trial court's determination; instead, an appellate court reviews the issue de novo. [21] Of course, in determining de novo whether Fox's complaint stated a claim upon which relief may be given, we must give words [in the Kentucky Constitution] their plain and ordinary meanings. [22]