HB188
Log in to followAN ACT relating to public safety.
Amend KRS 508.025 to expand assault in the third degree to include causing or attempting to cause physical injury to a healthcare provider in a jail, penitentiary, or local or state correctional or detention facility; amend KRS 65.1591 to add jailers, deputy jailers, and correctional officers employed by a local detention center, local correctional facility, or regional jail to the list of public safety employees eligible to participate in a peer support counseling program.
Introduced: January 7, 2026
Last action: April 3, 2026
In effect since July 15, 2026
Acts from the 2026 Regular Session that don't carry an emergency clause or set their own effective date took effect 90 days after the session adjourned (Ky. Constitution § 55).
Plain-language summary
This law does two things related to safety in Kentucky's jails and prisons. It makes it a criminal offense of assault in the third degree to cause or attempt to cause physical injury to a healthcare provider working inside a jail or correctional facility. It also allows jailers, deputy jailers, and correctional officers at local detention centers and regional jails to take part in peer support counseling programs that were previously available only to certain…
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Legislative History
Primary Sponsor
Co-sponsors (10)
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