Good Friday " a religious observance " is a paid, half-day holiday for state, city and county employees that has survived some legal challenges through the years.

And the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky says it has no current challenges planned.

Although the percentage of government employees who attend Good Friday services is small, the Rev. Jack

Brewer is glad state, county and city governments observe the occasion with a half-day holiday.

"It's an honor that most of our country does observe Good Friday as a special, significant time," said Brewer, pastor of First United Methodist Church and president of the Frankfort/Franklin County Ministerial Association.

The local ministerial association sponsors the annual Community Good Friday Service, which will be held from noon to 1 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church, 416 W. Main St.

While Good Friday is a holy day of the Christian church " observed as the anniversary of the crucifixion of Jesus " governments can "give Good Friday off as a holiday as long as their justifications are secular rather than religious," said Michael Aldridge, executive director of the ACLU of Kentucky.

Aldridge said the Good Friday holiday for governments has been challenged unsuccessfully in other districts in the past, "and it's not something we would be looking to challenge now."

He said there's a strong precedent that governments have taken steps to make sure Good Friday holiday is being taken for secular rather than religious reasons.

Low attendance of government employees at Good Friday church services would be proof the paid holiday is considered secular rather than religious.

Personnel Cabinet employees, this week, in researching how long state government has observed Good Friday as a half-day paid holiday, couldn't come up with a definite answer.

State Sen. Julian Carroll, a former governor, said retired Personnel employees he knows verified that the Good Friday holiday was being observed when Earle Clements was governor from 1947 to 1950.

"It would probably be safe to say the state holiday goes back to Isaac Shelby, Kentucky's first governor," said Carroll, laughing, Wednesday morning. "It wouldn't surprise me at all if Isaac Shelby was the founder of giving state employees a half-day off.

"The underlying philosophical principle of government in the United States has always been based upon a belief in God. It's recognized by our early forefathers. It was recognized in the Mayflower Compact when the pilgrims landed on the shores of America."

Carroll, a lay minister who said he would have "no way of knowing what number of state employees participate in some Good Friday activity. I would imagine the majority of (33,706) state employees would simply use it as time off for a long weekend. Some may use it for a day of traveling, to take a short break somewhere."

Other states that take Good Friday as a full paid holiday include Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana, Louisiana, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota and Tennessee, according to 2006 Book of the States, a publication of The Council of State Governments.
Kentucky is the only state that takes off a half day.

In South Dakota, observing Good Friday as a paid holiday is at the discretion of the governor. In Texas, a state employee may observe Good Friday in lieu of any state holiday on which the employee's agency is required to be open.

Aldridge cited a Northern Kentucky court case " Granzeier v. Middleton " in which the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Kentucky's closure of its court buildings on Good Friday based on these secular justifications:
>Many school children are on spring vacation the following week, and many Kentucky families start their vacations early, on Friday.
>Traffic statistics show that highway volume is very high on Good Friday.
>Courts and government offices do not expect much activity from the public, and the courts worry about the availability of jurors.
>Policymakers desired to provide a break for their employees at that time of year, conveniently scheduled on a day of light activity and proximate to many families' vacations.

The defendants in that case conceded that the state unconstitutionally endorsed religion when an employee " a deputy judge-executive in Kenton County " in 1996 posted a sign on the courthouse door that depicted a crucifix and announced the courts were closed in observance of Good Friday.

However, the court did not view the unauthorized sign as sufficient evidence to prove that the holiday itself had religious rather than secular justifications.

Franklin County Magistrate Jill Robinson, who has served on Fiscal Court longer than any other member, said Good Friday has been a half-day holiday for county government employees as long as she can remember.

"We usually mirror whatever the state does," Robinson said.

Robinson, who has Christian and Jewish heritage, said she feels confident if a county employee were Jewish and wanted to take off to observe Passover or Hanukkah, county government would accommodate that employee as well.

County government has 217 employees. Franklin County Treasurer Susan Laurenson said a "rough cost estimate" for county government for a half-day holiday is $16,000.

The Personnel Cabinet couldn't provide a cost estimate for state government for a half-day holiday.

The Rev. Brewer said a typical crowd at the Community Good Friday Service would be 150 to 200.

"I really have no way of knowing but I would guess probably half of those attending would be state government employees," Brewer said. "I'm sure, as in similar government holidays (such as Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday), the percentage of those attending services is fairly small."

Brewer said people could observe Good Friday, however, without attending a worship service.

"It could be observed in the home with family members," he said.

Good Shepherd Catholic Church will have its own Good Friday Service at 1 p.m. in the Leestown Road church.

The Rev. Pat Stewart, pastor, also expects 150 to 200 to attend as in past years.

Regarding the half-day holiday for government employees, Stewart said, "I think it's good culturally to recognize the day."

The Rev. Dr. William Brown, interim rector at Church of the Ascension, estimated that 100 to 130 would attend Episcopal Good Friday services at 311 Washington St. this year, based on past years.
From noon to 1 p.m. at the Episcopal church, there will be a meditation on the last seven words of Jesus. The liturgy and Eucharist will be from 1 to 2. Then the Stations of the Cross will be from 2:15 to 3.

Church of the Ascension also will have a 7:30 p.m. Good Friday Service with the liturgy and Eucharist.
Bridgeport Christian Church will have a 12:15 p.m. Good Friday Service, according to the Rev. Keith McAliley, pastor of the church. McAliley said it starts at 12:15 to give state government employees time to get there. Usually, about 40 attend the service.

"It's pretty informal and a light lunch will follow," he said.

Other local churches also have Good Friday services.