FRANKFORT, Ky. — Attorney General Andy Beshear should not investigate Gov. Matt Bevin's recent purchase of an Anchorage mansion if Beshear intends to run against Bevin for governor in 2019, the state's ethics commission said in an opinion Monday.

But if Beshear declares he will not run for governor in 2019, he would face no potential conflict of interest in investigating the governor's purchase of mansion, the commission advised.

The Executive Branch Ethics commission approved by a 4-1 vote an eight-page opinion that gave a qualified response to questions asked in a May 16 letter by J. Michael Brown, Beshear's chief deputy.

Earlier coverage

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In that letter, Brown said "significant and serious questions have been raised" regarding the sale of the Anchorage mansion to Bevin by Neil Ramsey, a large donor to Bevin's political causes who was appointed later by Bevin to the board of the Kentucky Retirement Systems.

But before launching an investigation, Brown said Beshear wanted the commission's guidance because prior commission opinions warned of likely conflicts when one independently-elected state official investigates another who may be an opponent in an upcoming election.

The commission advised Monday that it cannot provide clear advice because Beshear, a Democrat, has not ruled out a 2019 race against Bevin, a Republican.

"If you intend to run for the office of governor in the 2019 election cycle ... then the Commission will advise you to refer any potential investigations of the current Governor to other law enforcement agencies over which you do not exercise control," the opinion said.

But if Beshear declares he will not run for governor in 2019, the commission said "then you and your office will not have a conflict of interest."

The opinion said if Beshear can not say for now whether he will run for governor in 2019 but proceeds with the investigation of Bevin, he "will risk violating the ethics code" on the day he would announce his candidacy for governor.

Brown disagreed with the opinion. "I think it has a chilling effect. I think you can't force somebody in that position, particularly when you don't know if there's an actual conflict or you don't know if there's any personal interest involved," Brown said.

Later Monday Beshear's office put out a statement saying it needed to review the opinion in detail before issuing further comment.

Bevin's office did not immediately respond to a phone call and email seeking comment on the opinion.

Following an appointment he made to fill a vacancy on the commission Friday, Bevin has now appointed three of the five members of the commission. All three Bevin appointees voted with Commission Chairman William Francis, an appointee of former Gov. Steve Beshear (Andy Beshear's father), to adopt the opinion. Sheila Isaac, an appointee of Steve Beshear, cast the only no vote.

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In March, a Bevin company purchased the Anchorage house and 10 surrounding acres from a Ramsey company for $1.6 million. The Jefferson County property valuation administrator recently placed a $2.97 million value on the property Bevin purchased plus nine additional acres.

The price Bevin paid appears very low when compared to the PVA's value because the PVA puts a price of $2.13 million on the house alone. The PVA values the 19 acres of land at $840,000.

Bevin and Ramsey have insisted the $1.6 million was a fair market price and have appealed the PVA's value as being too high. A local appeals board plans to hear that appeal on Wednesday.

Richard Beliles, chairman of Common Cause of Kentucky, and state Rep. Darryl Owens, D-Louisville, have released copies of complaints they say they have filed with the ethics commission alleging the house transaction amounts to an unethical gift from Ramsey to Bevin. Under state law, the commission is prohibited from discussing or acknowledging a complaint has been filed until and unless the commission decides to bring a formal charge of an ethics violation.

And during the open portions of Monday's meeting, there was no mention of the complaints filed by Beliles and Owens.

Bevin has said the complaints are politically motivated and that they contain many factual errors.