Kentucky Bills

Create a new section of KRS 217.005 to 217.215 to define "end consumer"; allow certain USDA-exempted poultry processors to sell to end consumers on a farm, at a farmers market, or at a roadside stand.

Amend KRS 367.3611 to define "actual knowledge," "algorithmic feed," "algorithmic recommendation system," "covered design feature," "covered minor," "covered online service," "dark pattern," "knows to be a child," "knows to be a minor," "minor," "online service," "parent," "personalized recommendation system," "publicly available information," and "user"; create a new section of KRS 367.3611 to 367.3629, the Kentucky Consumer Data Protection Act, to require a covered online service to configure all default privacy settings provided to a covered minor through its online service, product, or feature to the highest level of privacy; provide a covered minor and his or her parents with certain default settings and tools to protect the minor from profiling, targeted advertising for prohibited products, or the use of dark patterns to impair a covered minor's choice; prohibit the use of notifications and push alerts to a covered minor between certain days and times; amend KRS 367.3613 to conform; provide that Section 2 of the Act may be cited as the Kentucky Kid's Code.

Amend KRS 164.936 to establish maximum loan repayment awards under the Healthcare Worker Loan Relief Program for dentists and dentists in counties that do not have an actively practicing dentist; provide rural dental practice grant awards and criteria; establish distribution requirements for funds appropriated to the Center of Excellence in Rural Health for loan repayment awards for dentists and rural dental practice grants; amend KRS 164.937 to require information on the Healthcare Worker Loan Relief Program to be reported to the Council on Postsecondary Education and the Legislative Research Commission; amend KRS 313.035 to require the Kentucky Board of Dentistry to create a Rural Dental Fellows Network; require the Kentucky Department for Medicaid Services to increase Medicaid reimbursement rates by 25% for dental services in federally designated health professional shortage areas; appropriate $4,400,000 in each fiscal year of the 2026-2028 fiscal biennium to the Center of Excellence in Rural Health budget unit; appropriate $600,000 in each fiscal year of the 2026-2028 fiscal biennium to the Kentucky Board of Dentistry; appropriate $1,000,000 in each fiscal year of the 2026-2028 fiscal biennium to the Department for Medicaid Services; provide that the Act may be cited as the Rural Dental Incentive and Access Program Act; specify that the expanded award eligibility, required reporting on the Healthcare Worker Loan Relief Program, and the Rural Dental Fellows Network shall expire on July 1, 2036; APPROPRIATION; EMERGENCY.

Provide 10 additional disaster relief student attendance days to provide instruction using alternate settings; allow local school districts to make up days missed by adding instructional time to student attendance days; require local boards of education seeking to revise its calendar to submit a plan for approval to the Department of Education; allow instructional time made up to count as employee contracted days; EMERGENCY.

HB 638 amends Kentucky law to officially designate the Kentucky coffeetree as a state tree alongside the existing tulip poplar. The bill adds the coffeetree to KRS 2.095, making both trees symbolic representations of Kentucky. This is a purely ceremonial change with no policy or funding impact, affecting only the state's official symbols. The bill does not alter any laws or regulations but updates the state's formal designation of its tree emblem. It is currently in the early stages of the legislative process.

Amend KRS 160.345 to define "school-based policy"; require that principals provide monthly and annual reports to the local board of education; set notice requirements for school advisory council elections; establish that a superintendent selects the principals for the school district; require that all school-based policies be reviewed and approved by the local board before implementation and provide exceptions; amend KRS 160.370 to permit county school districts with more than 15,000 students to delegate the approval of school-based policies; amend KRS 158.1415 to permit a local school board to adopt a curriculum for human sexuality; amend various sections of KRS Chapters 7, 156, 157, 158, 160, 161, 164, and 605 to transfer duties of school-based decision making councils to advisory councils and principals and to conform.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 141 to establish the employers' organ and bone marrow donation tax credit; amend KRS 141.0205 to provide the ordering of the credit; amend KRS 131.190 to allow disclosure of certain information on the credit to the Legislative Research Commission; provide that Section 1 of this Act may be cited as the Living Organ and Bone Marrow Donor Assistance Act of 2026.

Create a new section of Subtitle 17A of KRS Chapter 304 to define terms; require health plans to provide coverage for an annual mental health wellness examination provided by a mental health professional; require the coverage to be no less extensive than coverage for medical and surgical benefits, comply with the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008, and not be subject to any cost-sharing requirements; amend KRS 304.17C-125, 164.2871, and 18A.225 to require limited health service benefit plans, self-insured employer group health plans provided by the governing board of a state postsecondary education institution, and the state employee health plan to comply with the mental health wellness examination coverage requirement; state purpose of the Act; direct that provisions apply to health plans issued or renewed on or after the effective date of the Act; provide that Section 1 of the Act may be cited as the Kentucky Mental Health Wellness Act; EFFECTIVE, January 1, 2027.

Amend KRS 158.070 to permit a local board of education to amend its school calendar by adding time to the school day to reach the required 1,062 hours of instructional time; for the 2025-2026 school year, allow local school districts to make up days missed by adding instructional time to student attendance days; notwithstand the requirement for the student instructional year to have 170 student attendance days; allow waiver of up to 5 student attendance days if a school district is unable to provide the required 1,062 hours of instruction by June 10, 2026; require a local board of education seeking to revise its calendar to submit a plan for approval to the Department of Education; allow instructional time made up and days waived to count as employee contracted days; provide that districts that used 10 or fewer nontraditional instruction days and choose not to use any waived days shall have the district's average daily attendance calculated by deducting 5 low attendance days in addition to the 5 days deducted under KRS 157.320(2); EFFECTIVE, in part, July 1, 2026; EMERGENCY.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 17 to define terms; require the Department of Kentucky State Police to develop and operate an animal abuse offender registry; require offenders to register for 2 years for a first offense and 5 years for subsequent offenses; require offenders to pay a $100 registration fee and $100 every year the offender is registered; establish that a violation of registration requirements and providing false information to the registry are Class A misdemeanors; establish the animal abuse offender registry fund; create a new section of KRS Chapter 620 to require Cabinet for Health and Family Services employees to report animal abuse; amend KRS 321.188 to require veterinarians to report animal abuse.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 91A to define terms; require 100% of the wages of an employee associated with the corporate office to be apportioned to the local government where the corporate office is located; exclude wages for work performed at a satellite office; require 100% of the wages of an employee assigned to a state government office to be apportioned to the local government where the state government office is located; allow a refund claim for occupational license fees paid for work physically performed outside of the local government's jurisdiction; establish requirements for refunds; amend KRS 67.780 to conform; apply the apportionment and refund requirements to incentive agreements entered into or amended on or after the effective date of the Act.

Amend KRS 202A.011 to define "benefit from treatment," "individual with a mental illness," and "severe mental illness"; remove "mentally ill person" and redefine "danger"; amend KRS 202A.028 to allow the Commonwealth to file an emergency motion to be heard within 48 hours regarding the hospitalization of an individual with a mental illness who has been found by a qualified mental health professional to not meet the criteria for involuntary hospitalization; amend KRS 202A.051 to allow a court to order a respondent to participate in outpatient psychiatric treatment; allow a court to require a hospital to notify the court and the Commonwealth if the hospital releases a person who is hospitalized; allow a court to order a person released from hospitalization to participate in outpatient psychiatric treatment; require that any petition filed under this section to expire in 30 days if it has not been served on the respondent; amend KRS 202A.061 to allow the Commonwealth to file an emergency motion to be heard within 48 hours regarding the hospitalization of an individual with a mental illness who has been found by a qualified mental health professional to not meet the criteria for involuntary hospitalization; create new sections of KRS Chapter 202A to require the court to appoint an outpatient provider for every person who is ordered to community-based outpatient treatment; require a multidisciplinary team to regularly monitor a person's adherence to community-based outpatient treatment; allow a court or an authorized staff physician to order a 72 hour emergency admission to a hospital for every person who fails to comply with an order for community-based outpatient treatment; require the court to conduct a review hearing no later than 72 hours prior to the expiration or request for early release by a hospital of a period of involuntary hospitalization for individuals who have been diagnosed with a severe mental illness and within the past 12 months been involuntarily committed to a hospital setting or have been found incompetent to stand trial within the past 12 months; amend KRS 202A.0819 to allow a court to order a person who is receiving assisted outpatient treatment to comply with any other reasonable conditions; amend KRS 202A.0823 to allow a court to determine if a person should be ordered to receive specific care in line with his or her treatment plan; amend KRS 202A.091 to allow a petitioner who qualifies as a responsible party under KRS 311.631 to participate in an involuntary hospitalization proceeding and receive the respondent's discharge plan; amend KRS 202A.101 to allow a person to be transported to a hospital without a copy of the petition for involuntary hospitalization when a court orders it under KRS 202A.028 and 202A.061; amend KRS 202C.010 to amend the definition of "evidentiary hearing"; amend "individual with a mental illness" and remove "mentally ill person"; amend KRS 202C.020 to establish the duties and pay for the guardian ad litem in a 202C proceeding; amend KRS 202C.030 to extend the date of the evidentiary hearing from 20 to 45 days, unless the court orders a later hearing date for good cause shown; prohibit the respondent from using the insanity defense; amend KRS 202C.040 to extend the date of the commitment hearing from 20 to 45 days, unless the court orders a later hearing date for good cause shown; establish the duties of the guardian ad litem; amend KRS 202C.050 to remove criteria to be committed under this chapter; amend KRS 202C.060 to provide that after the initial standard review hearing, subsequent review hearings shall occur once every 2 years unless a material change has occurred; require competency evaluations to be conducted at least once every 2 years; amend KRS 202C.130 to include notice of motions filed by forensic psychiatric facilities to the Commonwealth and all other parties of record; amend various sections to conform; repeal KRS 202A.081, relating to court-ordered community-based outpatient treatment.