HB 415 Kentucky House · 2026 Regular Session

AN ACT relating to educators.

Summary
Amend KRS 161.120 to modify disclosure requirements for certain complaints; remove requirement for a conference between the staff of the Education Professional Standards Board (EPSB) and a certificate holder after a determination of sufficient evidence; restructure provisions concerning written admonishments by EPSB and referrals to hearings; provide a timeline for EPSB hearings; modify the right of a certificate holder to request an expedited hearing; require the hearing to be conducted before a hearing officer who is a licensed attorney secured from the Office of the Attorney General; change the timeline for a superintendent's duty to report; amend KRS 160.380 to allow a superintendent to contact a prior employers and the EPSB concerning an applicant for a certified position; establish information that shall be provided to a requesting superintendent; provide record retention requirements; grant liability protections for qualifying disclosures.
Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Feb 2026
House Passage
Feb 2026
Senate Passage
Governor
Introduced Jan 15, 2026 Last action Feb 26, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced Current/Final · 3 edits
MINOR
The bill updates the Kentucky Education Professional Standards Board's authority to discipline educators, specifically expanding the list of offenses that trigger mandatory disciplinary action and clarifying the timeline for handling complaints involving sexual misconduct. It also adjusts the page count of the document, indicating a likely expansion of the full text not fully shown in this diff.
Scope change
The scope of disciplinary grounds was expanded to include specific misdemeanor chapters and clarified the handling of sexual misconduct complaints.
ENFORCEMENT

The list of criminal convictions requiring disciplinary action was expanded to explicitly include misdemeanors under specific KRS chapters (218A, 508-531) and misdemeanors involving students or minors.

TIMELINE

The timeline for the initial review of complaints alleging sexual contact or unauthorized electronic communication was extended from 30 days to 120 days.

TECHNICAL

The document page count was updated from 20 to 28 pages, suggesting additional content was added to the full bill text.

Floor votes · House Feb 25, 2026

How they voted

1010
Passed · 4 other
Total votes 105
Feb 25, 2026
D Democratic21
20 Yea 1
95% Yea
R Republican84
81 Yea 3
96% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
9
Key actions
2
Committee
4
Feb 26, 2026
Committee
to Committee on Committees (S)
upper
Feb 25, 2026
Lower · Passed
3rd reading, passed 96-0 with Committee Substitute (1)
lower
Feb 18, 2026
Lower · Passed
reported favorably, 1st reading, to Calendar with Committee Substitute (1)
lower
Jan 16, 2026
Committee
to Primary and Secondary Education (H)
lower
Jan 15, 2026
Committee
to Committee on Committees (H)
lower
Jan 15, 2026
Introduced
introduced in House
lower
0 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

No sponsor information available.