Conway released his office's opinion, which was requested by Governor Beshear, late Wednesday afternoon. It essentially said the CPE failed to follow Kentucky law which requires a national search for a new president. Conway said "at the very least, the CPE was required to hire a search firm" to come up with some candidates. The CPE "terminated" its search process last summer and decided to hire Cowgill as its interim president instead. But that hiring was "unusual" and possibly illegal as well, according to Conway. He says staffers in the A.G.'s office could find nothing in the CPE's board minutes indicating they had ever voted to hire Cowgill on an interim basis. The board did vote to form a 3 person committee which did the hiring, according to Conway.

Cowgill wasn't answering any questions about today's legal opinion, according to CPE spokesperson Sue Patrick. Governor Beshear said he wasn't surprised by the opinion and believed all along that the CPE had acted improperly. It's tough to figure out what CPE Chairman John Turner plans to do from the statement he issued: "The Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education is grateful to the Governor and the Attorney General for their attention to the statutory requirements of the selection process and agrees that this is an important issue, one that still needs resolution.
I want to explore with the Governor and my colleagues on the Council a way to do so promptly and with appropriate respect for the independence of the Council and our postsecondary institutions."

Attorney General Conway says he hopes the Council does the right thing by starting a real search for a new president. He wouldn't speculate on what should happen to Cowgill or what should happen if the Council refuses to go along with the Attorney General's opinion, which doesn't carry the force of law.

The CPE president oversees Kentucky's public higher education system.