PROVIDENCE — Governor Carcieri yesterday took issue with a front-page Providence Journal story that raised questions about the constitutionality of his directive in December that the adjutant general of the National Guard would be in charge of the state during any emergency when the governor is out of state.

Carcieri asserted yesterday, as he has before, that he would never cede his constitutional authority regardless of his geographical location. “The governor never said that his authority under the constitution would be devolved to the Adjutant General or to any other appointed official,” said Carcieri’s spokesman, Jeff Neal, in a statement yesterday. “The Adjutant General would act under the instructions and direction of the Governor, as is the case when the Governor is in the state.”

Yet, the governor still did not answer the question, posed numerous times by The Journal since late December, about what happens when Carcieri is out of state and unable to be contacted during an emergency. That was the case on Dec. 13, when an 8-inch snowstorm crippled Greater Providence and left a hundred schoolchildren on buses well into the night. Carcieri was in the Middle East and out of contact until the storm was over; Maj. Robert T. Bray, adjutant general of the Rhode Island National Guard, had called out sick.

After Neal’s statement yesterday, The Journal asked for clarification: “If the governor is out of state and unreachable, does the adjutant general have the authority to make decisions unilaterally in any emergency requiring immediate action? “

Neal responded in an e-mail:

“Rhode Island’s Constitution mandates that the Governor’s authority travels with him or her. That authority does not depend on the Governor’s geographical location or on how instantaneously he or she can be contacted. The only exception to that constitutional mandate is when the Governor’s office is vacant by reason of death, resignation, impeachment or inability to serve. As the Director of the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency, the Adjutant General oversees and coordinates — under the Governor’s authority — the state’s response to an emergency. That is true whether the Governor is in the state or not.

“The Adjutant General can make all the decisions that he or she is empowered to make when the Governor is in state. However, the Adjutant General would not have the authority to exercise exclusively gubernatorial prerogatives, such as declaring a state of emergency. The Rhode Island General Assembly has begun to debate whether the current constitutional system is appropriate. Until that debate is concluded and the people of Rhode Island vote to amend the constitution, this is the current construction,” Neal concluded.

His response did not address the issue of what specifically the adjutant general is empowered to do, or what happens if the governor is unable to be contacted during the emergency.

Constitutional experts interviewed by The Journal for yesterday’s story raised serious concerns about putting an appointed military official in charge in the governor’s absence. The state Constitution prohibits the military from ruling over civilians. Under the state’s general laws, only a governor can declare a state of emergency, activate the National Guard, and serve as the commander-in-chief of the “organized and unorganized militia.” In an emergency, only the governor has direction and control of an emergency, including suspending the rules conducting state business, transferring state personnel to assist in emergency services and ordering an evacuation.

While the governor yesterday repeated his assertion that the adjutant general would be in charge, the constitutional experts question whether it is possible for a governor to be out of direct communication with the general and still remain in charge of an emergency.

“It comes back to the ambiguity of being unable to serve,” said Thomas Bender, a Providence appellate lawyer who has published articles about constitutional law. “That provision has never been interpreted by the Rhode Island Supreme Court.”

Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts, who was rebuffed in her offers of help during the Dec. 13 storm, said yesterday she is backing a bill that would restore the powers of the lieutenant governor if the governor is out of state. But that bill has been held for further study since January, and a similar bill hasn’t been heard.

In response to yesterday’s article, Rep. James C. Sheehan, D-Narragansett, proposed a resolution opposing Carcieri’s plan to leave the adjutant general in charge.

“In a single decree, Governor Carcieri has announced his intention to leapfrog the duly-elected lieutenant governor in favor of an appointed military commander,” Sheehan said in a statement. “I call on the governor to disavow this ill-advised decree. If he does not, it is incumbent on the other two branches — as provided by the separation of powers doctrine — to check this errant policy decree of the chief executive.”

The resolution notes that the state Constitution puts the military in strict subordination to the civil authority at all times, except with the possible declaration of martial law. Democrat senators Charles Levesque of Portsmouth, Hanna Gallo of Cranston, Joshua Miller of Cranston and Daniel Connors of Cumberland were co-sponsors.

“The General Assembly should act to resolve the succession of authority question because the next storm on the horizon for Rhode Island might be over the Constitution and civil liberty,” Sheehan said, “as opposed to snow.”

amilkovi@projo.com