Ten Commandments monument returning to Ky. Capitol grounds amid pushback from some religious leaders

March 28, 2025

A Ten Commandments monument will be returning to the Kentucky state Capitol grounds after a joint resolution passed by state legislators took effect on Thursday.

The Christian Post reports that the resolution became law without Democratic Governor Andy Beshear’s signature after being overwhelmingly passed by the Republican-controlled House and state Senate.

House Joint Resolution 15 authorized the return of the granite monument following decades of being in storage after it was removed in the 1980s for a construction project.

According to the Christian Post, a joint resolution authorizing the monument’s return to the Capitol grounds was approved by the Kentucky legislature in 2000 but was held up by a 2002 appellate court decision.

The 2025 resolution cited the 2005 U.S. Supreme Court decision Van Orden v. Perry upholding the display of a similar monument on the grounds of the Texas state Capitol.

First Liberty Institute Senior Counsel Roger Byron applauded the legislature for restoring what he called “a part of Kentucky’s history,” adding, “Like Kentucky’s monument, there is a long history and tradition of public monuments and displays that recognize the unique and important role the Ten Commandments have played in state and national history.”

The return of the monument also sparked opposition from a coalition of 79 faith leaders from across the state who urged Governor Beshear to veto the legislation.

In a March 19 letter to Beshear, the coalition expressed concern that “by communicating the government’s preference for some faiths, the monument undercuts the religious equality Kentuckians share and threatens to use the Ten Commandments as a symbol of exclusion and religious intolerance.”

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