Topeka ? Attorney General Paul Morrison said Kansas University Provost Richard Lariviere cannot serve as an ex officio voting member of the KU Hospital Authority.

“The answer is clearly no,” Morrison wrote in a letter to KU Hospital officials that was released Friday.

Lariviere’s membership on the board has become the focus of a recent controversy.

Earlier this month, hospital leaders removed Lariviere from the board saying state statutes don’t allow for him to serve as an ex officio voting member.

Lariviere contended only Gov. Kathleen Sebelius could remove him, and that he intended to attend future board meetings and hoped to be allowed to vote on matters.

The hospital authority is governed by a 19-member board of directors. Thirteen represent the general public and are appointed by the governor. The remaining six members are ex officio voting members, meaning they are members by virtue of their office.

Those offices don’t include the provost of KU, Morrison said.

“As the Governor’s authority to appoint is limited to the thirteen members who are representatives of the general public, any purported appointment by the Governor of an ex officio member has no legal validity,” Morrison said.

Sebelius’ office has said Sebelius did not appoint Lariviere to the board. She had simply acknowledged the board’s appointment of Lariviere, and took in “good faith” that he was legally eligible to serve.

The makeup of the board has drawn attention as KU hospital officials and KU administration officials argue over a proposed affiliation, sought by KU administration leaders, between the KU Medical Center and St. Luke’s hospital in Kansas City, Mo.