Commonwealth v. Kentucky Retirement Systems

Opinion of the Court by

Justice NOBLE.

This case is before the Court on a grant of discretionary review to answer the question of whether sovereign immunity bars an action against the Commonwealth under the Declaratory Judgment Act, KRS Chapter 418. This Court holds that it does not.

I. Background

The plaintiffs in the case below (now Appellees but referred to herein as plaintiffs) are a group of county employees who are members of the County Employee Retirement System, which is administered by the Kentucky Retirement Systems. See KRS 61.645(1); KRS 78.780. This case began when the employees…