INDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana Lt. Gov. Joe Kernan told reporters Monday he was assuming duties as acting governor after Gov. Frank O'Bannon underwent emergency surgery for a cerebral hemorrhage in Chicago.

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A formal, temporary transfer of power as allowed in Indiana's constitution wasn't done Monday. Kernan (pictured, left) said everyone involved agreed it was too soon to use the constitutional process without more information.

Kernan, 57, emphasized that O'Bannon, who was in a drug-induced coma Monday after surgery, still was governor.

"In this circumstance, the lieutenant governor acts as the acting governor of the state," Kernan said.

Indiana's constitution allows for a transfer of power if the governor is incapacitated. If, as in this case, the governor doesn't make arrangements beforehand, a petition must be filed to the Indiana Supreme Court by the Senate's president pro tem and the speaker of the House.

The state's high court would then decide on a transfer of power. If it is given, the lieutenant governor would serve as acting governor through the end of the term unless the governor seeks to resume leadership.

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Kernan said even though the formal process wasn't immediately initiated Monday, House Speaker Pat Bauer and others in the chain of command approved his assumption of acting-governor duties.

Kernan on Monday morning was with O'Bannon in Chicago, where the Indiana governor was scheduled to make a speech at a meeting of the Midwest U.S.-Japan Association. O'Bannon was found unconscious in a hotel room in Chicago around 9 a.m., and Kernan said he rode with O'Bannon to Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

After doctors began surgery to remove blood from O'Bannon's brain, Kernan flew to Indianapolis and met with staff members and then reporters at the Indiana Statehouse.

O'Bannon, a Democrat, is in the third year of a second four-year term. By law, he cannot seek re-election.

Until 9 months ago, Kernan was widely considered a lock for the Democratic nomination for governor. But Kernan announced in December he would not run, shocking even some party insiders.

Kernan was elected mayor of South Bend in 1987, serving for nine years before he was elected lieutenant governor in 1996. He has held the state's second-highest office since 1997.

Kernan joined the Navy after graduating from the University of Notre Dame in his hometown of South Bend in 1968. The son of a pilot, he was flying his 26th mission as a navigator when his aircraft was shot down over North Vietnam in 1972. Kernan survived 11 months as a prisoner of war.

The last time Indiana had an acting governor for any length of time was in 1924. Emmitt Branch took office April 30, 1924, when Gov. Warren McCray was forced to resign after being convicted of mail fraud.

McCray was sentenced to federal prison in Atlanta. Branch left office Jan. 12, 1925, when newly elected Gov. Edward L. Jackson was sworn in.

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