Events surrounding Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis last year showed that removing county clerks from office is not a simple task in Kentucky. At present, such removal is limited to the same means required to remove a state-wide executive officer, meaning the county clerk has the same tenure as the governor and attorney general. But historically, the county clerk was removable by other, lesser means, as were all other county officers. The present removal gap is a modern problem that appeared only in 1976 and, based on a review of the available historic materials, was the result of mere oversight when the Kentucky constitution was revised substantially to implement a new judicial branch. The gap should be filled, though it will likely require a constitutional amendment.Historically, Kentucky has had a two-tier removal process, with the upper tier applying to all officers, and resulting in removal from office and disqualification from future office; and the lower tier applying to non-executive officers and resulting only in removal. The upper tier consists of impeachment and conviction for certain serious crimes, such as bribery. The lower tier consists of several methods, with each applying to a given class of officers. Members of the legislature have always been removable by their respective houses. Judges have historically been removable by address of the legislature, and are now removable by a retirement and removal commission. County officers, other than the county clerk, may be removed for misfeasance, malfeasance, or nonfeasance. And finally, court clerks may generally be removed by Kentucky’s highest court. County clerks were historically removable under this latter process. But in 1976, the judicial provisions in Kentucky’s constitution were repealed and replaced by a new system. The repeal included the removal mechanism for county clerks, but the new provisions said nothing about them, creating a gap in the traditional removal structure. A review of available historic materials from the period leading up to 1976 amendment — including correspondence, polls, and educational materials used by the group leading the charge in favor of the amendment, and contemporary news and other media accounts — reveals no public discussion of a removal mechanism for county clerks. This omission suggests that the removal gap was the result of oversight and thus was unintended.This oversight should be corrected. Various possible solutions exist, such as making various crimes result in removal from office, but such an approach is at best responsive and piecemeal. The county clerks could be placed back under the purview of Kentucky’s highest court, but that prospect has disadvantages. The best method would amend the constitution to put county clerks on the same footing as all other county officers, making them removable for malfeasance, misfeasance, or nonfeasance in office.