Rep. Chris Freeland

Direct the Legislative Research Commission to reestablish the Disaster Prevention and Resiliency Task Force to study disaster mitigation, infrastructure resilience, and planning for natural disasters that impact the Commonwealth; require the task force to submit recommendations to the Legislative Research Commission by December 1, 2026.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 40 to limit the compensation for advising or assisting with veterans' benefits; prohibit persons seeking compensation for advising, assisting, or consulting on a veterans' benefits matter from utilizing international call or data centers, directly or aggressively soliciting business, gaining access to personal medical, financial, or benefits log-in or password information, charging interest, and utilizing a doctor with whom they have an employment or business relationship; limit the fee for representation; require any person receiving compensation for assisting on a veterans' benefits matter to report to the Kentucky Department of Veterans' Affairs (KDVA) annually; allow KDVA to promulgate form for the report and display it on their website; establish that violators constitute a violation of the Consumer Protection Act; provide that attorneys and law firms seeking to receive compensation for advising, assisting, or consulting any individual with any veterans' benefits matter shall be governed federal regulations.

Amend KRS 258.005 to define "veterinarian" and "veterinary technician"; amend KRS 258.015 to authorize a Kentucky-licensed veterinary technician to vaccinate a dog, cat, or ferret against rabies; require that a Kentucky-licensed veterinary technician authorized to vaccinate a dog, cat, or ferret against rabies be under the direct supervision of a veterinarian that is located on the premises of the facility.

Amend KRS 508.130 to define "course of conduct" and "social media platform"; establish elements of the crime of stalking and penalize as a Class D felony unless certain aggravating circumstances are met, in which case it is a Class C felony; provide that the Act shall not affect the validity of restraining orders, interpersonal protective orders, or domestic violence orders in place prior to the effective date of the Act; repeal KRS 508.140 and 508.150, relating to stalking in the first and second degrees; amend KRS 14.300, 23A.208, 24A.178, 431.005, 411.220, 456.010, 500.092, 500.120, 506.160, 508.155, and 532.080 to conform.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 2 establishing the fourth week of September of each year to be Unclaimed Property Week; amend KRS 41.020 to remove Treasurer's requirement to maintain his or her residency at the seat of government; amend KRS 393A.020 to remove mineral proceeds from the KRS list of property to which the chapter does not apply; amend KRS 393A.740 to include deficient reports as punishable by civil penalty.

Create new sections of KRS Chapter 197 to establish the Kentucky Community and Technical College System Prison Education Program within the Department of Corrections in partnership with the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) to provide inmates with job training; require KCTCS to construct a facility to house the program at Northpoint Training Center; establish convictions that preclude participation in the program; require the parties to enter into a memorandum of agreement establishing the responsibilities of each party; amend KRS 196.281 to establish entitlement to a certificate of employability upon successful completion of the program and require reporting by the department; amend KRS 335B.020 to establish that a person shall not be disqualified from public employment or obtaining an occupational license solely because of previous criminal conviction and obtaining a certificate of employment from the department shall constitute rebuttable evidence of rehabilitation and fitness for the occupation; amend KRS 355B.030 to remove a conviction of a Class A felony, Class B felony, or any other felony offense other than a conviction that would qualify the individual as a registrant as defined in KRS 17.500 as supportive of a rebuttable presumption of a connection between that conviction and a license issuance request.

Amend KRS 217.127 to define "charitable food donor" as a nonprofit or religious organization that is recognized as tax exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code or home-based processor, which produces food for distribution to a homeless shelter or to individuals displaced due to a declared natural disaster; exempt a charitable food donor from the licensing requirements of KRS 217.005 to 217.215 and application of State Plumbing Code requirements; amend KRS 217.218 to conform; amend KRS 411.241 to exempt a nonprofit or religious organization that is recognized as tax exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code or a home-based processor from civil or criminal liability arising from the production or donation of food to a homeless shelter or to individuals displaced due to a declared natural disaster.

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.

Support the federal Ohio River Restoration Program Act to advance clean water, economic development, community stability, and expanded recreation opportunities in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

Maddy summaryHB 851 amends Kentucky law to change the reporting deadline for fiscal courts and county clerks from July 1 to August 1, giving these local government offices an additional month to submit required reports. The bill also updates fee schedules for various county clerk services, including recording deeds, mortgages, and election petitions, while maintaining the same fee amounts as previously established. These changes directly affect county clerks, fiscal courts, and the public who interact with county record-keeping and administrative processes. The legislation does not alter the types of documents that must be recorded or the amounts of fees charged, only the timing for certain reporting obligations.