More than 200 new Kentucky laws take effect July 15.

Here are some you should know about.

Transportation

Autonomous vehicles 

House Bill 7 allows autonomous (driverless) vehicles to operate on Kentucky roads and sets out the rules around autonomous vehicle operation. It requires very heavy vehicles (more than 62,000 pounds) to have a human driver onboard until July 31, 2026. 

Towing of cars 

House Bill 167 requires towing companies to provide their rate sheets to the nearest Department of Kentucky State Police post as well as other law enforcement agencies in their service areas. 

Windshield tinting

Under Senate Bill 46, vehicle owners are allowed to tint their windshields if the tinting allows 70% light transmittance. The new law doesn't apply to other vehicle windows, and red and yellow tints are prohibited under this law. Current Kentucky law allows river and passenger doors can to be tinted, but must allow 35% of the light in.  Windows on rear doors must allow at least 18% of light in. 

Alcohol and drugs

Kratom

House Bill 293 prohibits the sale of kratom to anyone under 21 years of age; puts additional limits on what ingredients can go into kratom products; and requires kratom products to include a label with a list of ingredients, the name and address of the vendor, a disclaimer that kratom is not intended to treat medical conditions, and other details. 

Self-distribution of spirits 

Senate Bill 50 allows craft distillers (those with a Class B license) to sell up to 5,000 gallons annually of spirits they distill directly to retailers. 

Social and emergency services

Emergency medical services training grant

House Bill 484 creates an emergency medical services education grant program designed to increase the number of paramedics in Kentucky. It includes tuition support for those employees of ambulance services who study to become paramedics as well as support for ambulance providers and training institutes. 

Parental rights 

House Bill 476 allows a parent to terminate their parental rights while a dependency, neglect or abuse proceeding is pending. 

Child abuse 

House Bill 271 makes several changes to Kentucky’s law around child abuse, neglect and dependency cases. It adds new requirements to how the Cabinet for Health and Family Services determines risk to a child as well as steps the cabinet must take when a safety plan is in place for a child. It also changes the law so mandatory reporters of child abuse or neglect can make oral, written or electronic reports; currently they can make only oral reports. It also requires the state to operate a 24-hour-a-day reporting system. 

Birth certificates for homeless people 

House Bill 100 allows homeless people to obtain birth certificates without having to pay fees. 

Adoption records

House Bill 87 expands the list of people who can inspect adoption records to include the adult child, grandchild, or sibling of a deceased birth parent or deceased adoptee if certain other conditions are met. 

Child care benefits for foster parents

Senate Bill 240 allows the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to provide child care benefits to foster care parents who telework inside the home. 

Caregivers for children removed from their homes 

Senate Bill 151 allows children who have been removed from their homes to, if they are able, provide a list of relatives or “fictive kin” caregivers they could stay with. Relative or fictive caregivers can also apply to the Cabinet of Health and Family Services to become foster parents for a child removed from a home.  

Background checks 

Senate Bill 145 allows health facilities and providers who offer care through Kentucky Medicaid to submit background checks for new employees to the Cabinet for Health and Family Services so the cabinet can check whether the new employee is listed in the child neglect and abuse or adult abuse registries. 

Health care

Nursing regulations

House Bill 459 changes the composition of Kentucky Board of Nursing and requires nurses and physician assistants to take a one-hour course on Alzheimer’s and dementia as part of their continuing education, among other changes.

Cancer screening for firefighters

House Bill 323 allows the Kentucky Fire Commission to reimburse firefighters for cancer screenings. 

Pharmacists and vaccines

House Bill 274 allows pharmacists to administer vaccines to children aged five or older. 

Step therapy for biosimilars

House Bill 220 allows health insurance companies to require insured people try “biosimilars” before providing coverage for equivalent brand-name drugs. Biologic drugs include Humira, Lantus, and Avastin. Biosimilars are similar to brand-name biologic drugs but typically cheaper. 

Violence against healthcare workers

House Bill 194 expands the definition of who is a health care worker for the crime of assault against a health care provider.  

Criminal immunity for healthcare workers

House Bill 159 provides healthcare workers immunity from criminal liability for harm or damages resulting from the care they provide except for in cases of gross negligence or wanton, willful, malicious, or intentional misconduct.

Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy 

House Bill 166 will allow family members to request that coroners determine whether a person’s cause of death is a direct result of a seizure or epilepsy. If the death is found to be a result of a "sudden expected death in epilepsy," or SUDEP, a copy of the death certificate will be sent to a national registry that is tracking such deaths. 

Anticoagulation management at home 

House Bill 31 requires state Medicaid insurers to provide coverage for at-home tests to check blood coagulation (clotting).

Maternal health

Some parts of Senate Bill 74 — the “Momnibus” aimed at improving maternal health care in Kentucky — take effect in July while others do not take effect until next year. Among those taking effect July 15: 

• The Cabinet for Health and Family Services must start setting up the Kentucky Lifeline for Moms, a hotline to help healthcare providers find services for mothers with mental illness or intellectual disabilities. 
• The bill changes duties and composition of the maternal and infant health collaborative administered by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. 
• The state Health Access and Nurturing Development Services (HANDS) program, which is a home visitation program for new and expectant parents, will provide information about breastfeeding and lactation consultants as well as the importance of safe sleep for babies. HANDS services can be provided virtually as well as in person. 
• The state Medicaid providers must provide insurance coverage for lactation consultation, breastfeeding equipment, in-home substance use disorder treatment via telemedicine, and telehealth and digital health services related to pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period.

Substance use disorder programs

Senate Bill 71 requires substance use disorder programs to make arrangements for transportation for a person who wishes to leave the program. If the person is under a court order to attend the program and leaves before the program is over, the provider must notify the court. The bill also prohibits substance use disorder programs and recovery residences from recruiting out-of-state residents enrolled in Medicaid. 

Worker’s compensation

House Bill 401 allows out-of-state physicians and retired physicians to make worker’s compensation determinations.

Crime and public safety

Safer Kentucky Act highlights

House Bill 5 — often called the "Safer Kentucky Act" — is a wide-ranging bill making a long list of changes to Kentucky criminal law. Among those changes include:

• Creates a new crime of "unlawful camping" for sleeping on streets, sidewalks, cemeteries, in parks and under bridges.
• Creates the "three strikes" rule and prohibits probation, parole or early release for any person convicted of three violent felonies.
• Lets shop and business owners use a "reasonable amount of force" to prevent someone from escaping in cases of suspected shoplifting.
• Classifies carjacking as its own crime, a Class B felony
• Limits charitable bail organizations to bail payments of less than $5,000 and bans them from baling people out who are accused of violent crimes.
• Classifies selling or providing fentanyl to a person who dies from an overdose as manslaughter, a felony. The bill includes a “Good Samaritan” exception for those who seek help for an overdose. 

Seth’s Law

House Bill 385 changes to state laws regarding decision-making for adults with limited mental capacities. The law adds an adult friend to the list of people who can make health care decisions for someone lacking “decisional capacity.” The law also expands the number of settings where a person accused of a crime can undergo an examination to determine whether the accused is competent to stand trial. Currently, those examinations are only allowed to be performed at the Kentucky Correctional Psychiatric Center. 

Porn age verification and changes to sex-crime-related crimes 

House Bill 278 prohibits school district superintendents from employing a person who has been convicted of a violent offense and expands the list of sex crimes for which a superintendent cannot employ someone. It increases the penalty for someone convicted of rape, sodomy, or using a communications system to procure a minor if that person was in a position of authority or special trust. The bill enacts stiffer penalties for human trafficking. It requires anyone convicted of distributing matter portraying a sexual performance by a minor to serve at least 85% of their sentence before being released on parole or probation. The bill also imposes age verification requirements for platforms that distribute pornography, meaning pornography websites must require people to submit identification proving they are at least 18 years old before they can access the content. 

Child sex dolls 

House Bill 207 creates new offenses of possessing, trafficking, importing and promoting child sex dolls. It also adds computer-generated images to the list of images considered illegal under the state’s child pornography law. 

Human trafficking

Among other thing, House Bill expands the definition of human trafficking, adding reporting requirements, allowing the attorney general to establish a working group to study human trafficking in Kentucky as well as requiring airports, truck stops, bus stations and train stations to post signs with help information for victims of human trafficking. 

Crime victim compensation 

Senate Bill 319 requires the Crime Victims Compensation Board to create an electronic portal and tracking system for crime victims applying for compensation and expands the list of family members to whom compensation can be paid. 

Children can be tried as adults

Under Senate Bill 20, children who are 15 years and older and charged with a Class A, B or C felony that involves the use of a firearm will be transferred to Circuit Court and tried as an adult.

Requirement for sex offenders on social media

Senate Bill 249 requires sex offenders who committed an offense against a minor must display their full legal name on social media platforms.

Torture of a dog or cat

House Bill 258 allows a person to be charged as a Class D felony and defines torture as “intentional infliction of or subjection to extreme physical pain or serious injury or death to a dog or cat, motivated by intent or wanton disregard that causes, increases, or prolongs the pain or suffering of the dog or cat, including serious physical injury or infirmity.” 

Cold cases

House Bill 551 allows law enforcement agencies to contract retired police officers to assist with homicide cold cases.

Criminal trespass

Also known as the "ag gag bill," Senate Bill 16 adds commercial food manufacturing or processing facilities and animal feeding operations to a list of protected infrastructure assets. This means unauthorized recording or photography, by drones or otherwise, at those facilities is a misdemeanor.

State police to establish Ashanti Alert System

Under Senate Bill 45, the Department of Kentucky State Police is required to create a Kentucky Ashanti Alert System to notify the public when an adult is missing and may have been abducted or kidnapped. The system is similar to Amber Alert notification system for missing children.

Environment and energy

Air pollution audits in Louisville

Companies that conduct an internal audit of their operations, discover a violation of local air pollution rules and voluntarily report that violation to officials are protected from penalties, with some limitations. House Bill 136 extends that protection to Jefferson County, the only place in Kentucky where a separate air pollution control district, rather than the state, actively regulates air quality and emissions.

Nuclear energy 

Senate Bill 198 creates a Kentucky Nuclear Energy Development Authority to support and facilitate nuclear energy in the state. The authority will have a governing board of 30 members and will submit an annual report to the governor and Legislative Research Commission, with the first one due Dec. 1, 2025. A related resolution directs the state Public Service Commission to make staffing and organizational changes to prepare for the building of nuclear energy facilities. 

Environmental emergencies 

House Bill 583 requires the Energy and Environment Cabinet to notify mayors, county/judge executives, and the chief executive officer of other local governments within seven days of an environmental emergency declaration.  

Coal is the official rock 

House Bill 378 rectifies an earlier geological error. It changes coal from the official mineral to the (geologically correct) official state rock of Kentucky. It also designates Kentucky agate as the state’s official gemstone and calcite as the state’s official mineral. 

Elections

No ranked choice voting and voter roll cleanup  

House Bill 44 prohibits the use of ranked-choice voting in any local, state or federal election. It also:

• Requires the Secretary of State, Board of Elections, and Administrative Office of the Courts to take steps to clean up voter rolls. 
• Requires the Board of Elections to create annual reports with every address in each county listing a registered voter and the number of active and inactive voters registered at that address. The list will be available at each county clerk’s office and online with personal information redacted. 
• Requires the Secretary of State and Board of Election websites to post links where people who are erroneously registered to vote in Kentucky can voluntarily cancel their registration, among other changes. 

Election recounts

House Bill 53 requires each Kentucky county to have at least one hand-to-eye recount for at least one race on one ballot scanner in each county. If there is a difference between the original count from the vote tabulation machine and the hand-to-eye count, the county board of election will open an election investigation.

Miscellaneous

Service animals 

House Bill 335 changes Kentucky law about assistance (service) dogs. It adds new requirements to the rules that govern where an assistance dog can be taken in public. It also creates a separate category of emotional support animals and specifies establishments do not have to admit emotional support animals even if they do have to admit assistance dogs. The law also makes it illegal to misrepresent a dog as an assistance dog.

Strengthen Kentucky Homes Program 

House Bill 256 creates the Strengthen Kentucky Homes Program to provide grants to property owners, contractors, nonprofits and others to help make Kentucky homes more likely to resist wind and hail. The bill requires insurance companies to offer premium discounts or rate reductions to policies that cover homes meeting certain construction standards. 

Time limits on coroners

Senate Bill 17 changes the requirements around how long coroners have to sign certificates of death. Currently, coroners have to go through two separate procedures when a death is under inquiry or the cause of death is unknown. Coroners will be able to wait until the inquiry into the death is complete to sign paperwork and will have five working days to sign a death certificate. 

Nail technicians and estheticians 

Senate Bill 14 changes the composition of the Kentucky Board of Cosmetology by requiring one licensed nail technician and one licensed esthetician to sit on the board. It also allows nail technicians who have failed test or practical demonstration to retake that portion after one month. It allows nail technicians to use callus graters for callus removal and clarifies procedures for how the board deals with alleged violations of laws and regulations. 

Statues at Capitol

House Bill 513 gives power to the legislature to approve the permanent installation or removal of "statues, monuments, or objects of art on permanent display" in the capitol's rotunda.

The power to remove or add statues previously belonged to the Historic Properties Advisory Commission, and the bill also outlines the process for the commission to seek the general assembly's approval.

Reach Rebecca Grapevine at rgrapevine@courier-journal.com or follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @RebGrapevine. Reach reporter Hannah Pinski at @hpinski@courier-journal.com or follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @hannahpinski.