Criminal Justice

Amend KRS 439.3401 to provide that a violent offender who has received a life sentence and has not been sentenced to 35 years without probation or parole or imprisonment for life without the benefit of probation or parole shall not be released on probation or parole until he or she has served at least 30 years; amend KRS 439.3406 to prohibit a person who has been convicted of a Class B felony or a person who is a violent offender who has been unanimously denied discretionary parole from qualifying for mandatory reentry supervisions; provide that the Department of Corrections shall provide an annual report on the results of the mandatory reentry supervision program to the Legislative Research Commission by February 1 of each year; amend KRS 504.150 to require a treating professional for a defendant who has received a sentence of guilty but mentally ill to file a petition for involuntary hospitalization under KRS Chapter 202A or 202B; amend KRS 532.025 to provide that if a defendant has been found guilty of intentional murder, the jury or court does not have to find any aggravating circumstance to sentence a defendant to imprisonment for life without benefit of probation or parole or imprisonment for life without benefit of probation or parole for 35 years; amend KRS 532.030 to enhance the sentence of imprisonment for life without benefit of probation or parole for 25 years to 35 years; amend KRS 532.110 to provide that sentences of a defendant convicted of 2 or more capital offenses, Class A felonies, Class B felonies, or a combination of those offenses or 2 or more violent offenses involving 2 or more victims shall run consecutively; amend various KRS sections to conform; repeal KRS 504.020 and 504.030; provide that the Act may be cited as Logan's Law.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 532 to provide that any person who has been convicted of, pled guilty to, or entered an Alford plea to a sex crime in which the victim was under the age of 12 shall undergo medroxyprogesterone acetate treatment; provide that treatment shall begin no later than 1 month before the person is released from custody; provide that treatment shall continue until the person is released from probation, parole, or postincarceration supervision; provide that the person shall be evaluated by a licensed physician prior to treatment to determine if the person is an appropriate candidate for treatment; provide that the Department of Corrections shall administer the treatment; authorize the Department of Corrections to promulgate administrative regulations to implement the requirements.

­Create a new section of KRS Chapter 510 to establish the offense of grooming a minor; amend KRS 510.010 to define "course of conduct," "grooming behavior," and "sexual conduct"; amend various sections to conform; make technical corrections.

Amend KRS 511.010 to define terms; amend KRS 511.070 to expand the elements of criminal trespass in the second degree to include knowingly entering or remaining in a workplace while engaging in disruptive or threatening behavior where notice against trespass is given; establish that a second or subsequent criminal trespass in the second degree offense within 3 years is a Class A misdemeanor; amend KRS 511.080 to establish that a second or subsequent criminal trespass in the third degree offense within 3 years is a Class B misdemeanor.

SB 36 creates a new crime called "parentage fraud" in Kentucky law, making it a Class B misdemeanor to falsely establish someone as a child's legal biological parent with the intent to steal property or block the child's real parent from their rights, when the person knows or should know the claim is false. It directly affects individuals who commit such fraud, such as those trying to circumvent parental rights or financial obligations. The law explicitly excludes cases involving rape, incest, ongoing adoptions, or when the victim was the defendant's spouse at the time of the offense. Violating this law could result in up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.

Amend KRS 23A.080 to allow appeals to be taken to the Circuit Court by the state in criminal cases from an adverse decision or ruling of the District Court.

This bill defines "unauthorized alien" as a person unlawfully present in the U.S. under federal immigration law. It makes it a Class A misdemeanor for such individuals to knowingly seek or perform work for pay in Kentucky. The law would directly affect non-citizens working without authorization in the state, criminalizing their employment activity while using plain language to describe the prohibition.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 189 to define "automated license plate reader" or "ALPR"; prohibit the use, deployment, and maintenance of an ALPR system; allow a person to bring a civil action for a violation and allow recovery of actual and punitive damages; make the use, deployment, and maintenance of an ALPR system a Class D felony and set a fine of $10,000.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 527 to define "machine gun"; establish the offense of possession of a machine gun conversion device as a Class C felony.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 507 to establish the offense of child abuse homicide as a capital offense; amend KRS 199.896 to require licensed child-care centers to maintain video surveillance of all public areas within the facility and retain video footage for 90 days; amend KRS 507.030 to increase the age of a child victim of manslaughter in the first degree from 12 or under to under 18; amend KRS 507.040 to increase the penalty of manslaughter in the second degree from a Class C to a Class B felony if the victim is under the age of 18; amend KRS 508.100 to add knowingly as a mental state of a person guilty of criminal abuse in the first degree; increase the age of a victim from under age 12 to under age 18; increase the penalty of criminal abuse in the first degree from a Class C to a Class B felony and from a Class B to a Class A felony if the victim is under the age of 18; amend KRS 508.110 to increase the age of a victim of criminal abuse in the second degree from age 12 or less to under 18; increase the penalty from a Class D to a Class C felony; amend KRS 508.120 to increase the age of a victim of criminal abuse in the third degree from age 12 or less to under 18; increase the penalty from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class D felony; amend KRS 532.025, relating to aggravating circumstances in death penalty eligible cases, to increase the age of a victim of an intentional killing from under 12 to under 18; amend KRS 625.090 to create a rebuttable presumption that parental rights must be terminated if a parent has been convicted of a felony involving serious physical injury to any child or convicted of causing or contributing to the death of a child as a result of abuse; provide that the Act may be cited as Jayden's Law.