Rep. Walker Thomas

Amend KRS 403.720 to include violence against an animal when used as coercive conduct in the definition of "domestic violence and abuse"; amend KRS 403.740 to allow a judge to award possession of a shared domestic animal to the petitioner; amend KRS 456.010 to include violence against an animal when used as coercive conduct in the definition of "dating violence and abuse"; amend KRS 456.060 to allow a judge to award possession of a shared domestic animal to the petitioner.

Amend KRS 23A.020 to move Edmonson County from the 38th Judicial Circuit into the 8th Judicial Circuit; amend KRS 23A.040 (Effective January 2, 2023) to add the 56th Judicial Circuit to the list of judicial circuits with 2 Circuit Judges; amend KRS 23A.045 (Effective January 2, 2023) to remove the 3rd, 6th, 14th, and 27th Judicial Circuits from the list of judicial circuits with 3 Circuit Judges; amend KRS 23A.050 to add the 3rd, 6th, 14th, and 27th Judicial Circuits to the list of judicial circuits with 4 Circuit Judges; create KRS 23A.052 to establish that the 8th and 25th Judicial Circuits shall be entitled to 5 Circuit Judges; amend KRS 23A.055 to establish that the 16th Judicial Circuit shall be entitled to 6 Circuit Judges; amend KRS 24A.030 (Effective January 2, 2023) to move Edmonson County from the 38th Judicial District into the 8th Judicial District, move Russell and Wayne Counties from the 40th Judicial District into the 57th Judicial District, move Nelson County from the 57th Judicial District into the 58th Judicial District, move Cumberland and Monroe Counties from the 59th Judicial District into the 40th Judicial District, move Marshall County from the 58th Judicial District into the 42nd Judicial District, and eliminate the 59th Judicial District; amend KRS 24A.050 to remove the 4th, 31st, 38th, 41st, and 51st Districts from the list of Judicial Districts with 2 District Judges; amend KRS 24A.090 to remove 1 District Court division of the 16th Judicial District; request that the Circuit Court Judges added under KRS 23A.050 in the 3rd, 6th, 14th, 16th, and 27th Judicial Circuits be designated as family court divisions with an effective date of January 2, 2023; request that the District Court judgeships eliminated in the 4th, 13th, 31st, 41st, 51st, and the realignment of the Judicial Districts take effect January 1, 2027, unless a vacancy occurs earlier; provide transitional language; EFFECTIVE in part January 2, 2023, and January 1, 2027; EMERGENCY.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 164 to define terms; establish a student loan forgiveness program for teachers obtaining certification through an expedited certification process with a residency component; authorize the Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority to promulgate administrative regulations to administer the program; create the Option 9 scholarship fund; amend KRS 161.048 to create an Option 9 expedited alternative certification pathway through the use of a residency program; establish requirements for residency program; establish eligibility for district participation; APPROPRIATION.

Create a new sections of KRS Chapter 199 to create the Employee Child-Care Assistance Partnership program; define terms; obligate the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to administer the program; establish reporting requirements; establish a fund for the program; authorize the cabinet to administer the fund; direct the cabinet to promulgate administrative regulations to effectuate the program; establish program requirements for employers and employees; establish requirements for both permissive and mandatory termination of the program contract; permit the Cabinet for Economic Development to condition program requirements on participation in this program; amend KRS 199.990 to include a penalty; cite as the Employee Child-Care Assistance Partnership; APPROPRIATION; EMERGENCY.

Amend KRS 218A.1410, 218A.1412, and 218A.142 to enhance the penalty for importing or trafficking carfentanil, fentanyl, or fentanyl derivatives from a minimum of 50 percent of the sentence served to a minimum of 85 percent of the sentence served and establish prohibition against the use of pretrial diversion for those criminal offenses.

Amend KRS 36.230 to include gender-neutral language.

Amend KRS 39A.100 to exclude houses of worship from emergency condemnation authority; prohibit a governmental entity from prohibiting religious services during an emergency to a greater extent than imposed on other organizations or businesses that provide essential services; require a compelling governmental interest to place a burden on a religious organization; prohibit a governmental entity from taking any discriminatory action against a religious organization on the basis that the organization is religious; define "discriminatory action," "governmental entity," "religious organization," and "religious services"; allow a religious organization to assert a violation of this section as a claim against a governmental entity or as a defense and waive sovereign, governmental, and qualified immunity to the extent of liability under the section; set out remedies available to a religious organization; require construciton in favor of protecting free exercise of religion; require a religious organization to bring an action no later than two years from the date the person should have known of the discriminatory action.

Waive up to 15 student attendance days for days school districts were closed due to the western Kentucky tornado disaster; consider days waived under this Act as completed employment contract days for school personnel; EMERGENCY.

Recognize April 2, 2022, as World Autism Awareness Day and April 2022 as Autism Acceptance Month.

Urge Kentucky's Congressional delegation to include Kentucky's Veterans Affairs Medical Centers into the Center for Compassionate Innovation, a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs pilot program enabling the use of hyperbaric oxygen treatment for veterans with a traumatic brain injury or post-traumatic stress disorder.