House passes Safer Kentucky Act
As the legislative body of our state, it is our responsibility to provide the strongest and most effective policy possible to hold criminals accountable for their actions. Last week, members of the House voted 74-22 to approve HB 5, legislation aimed at preventing crime through common sense changes. The measure, more commonly known as the Safer Kentucky Act, is the result of almost a year’s worth of work with stakeholders that include law enforcement, victims and their families, prosecutors, and others who know firsthand how crime can impact both individual Kentuckians and our Commonwealth as a whole.
The measure includes more than 20 provisions that address crime at all levels. A few highlights include provisions that:
- Require life without probation or parole for those convicted of their third violent felony. This provision would apply to those convicted three times of crimes like murder, sexual abuse, rape, and terrorism. These individuals have proven not once, not twice, but three times that they are capable of some of the most heinous crimes. Life without probation or parole will keep them behind bars and away from future victims.
- Make death by delivery constitute manslaughter in the first degree for an individual who knowingly sells fentanyl or a fentanyl derivative to another person and leads to death. The measure makes the distribution that results in death, manslaughter in the second degree.
- Increase the felony class for smuggling contraband substances within a jail, prison, or other type of detention center to a Class B felony. This includes substances such as fentanyl, carfentanil, and fentanyl derivatives.
- Prevent organizations from furnishing bail of $5,000 or more, for violent offenses, or for those held under a civil court order or warrant pursuant to Casey’s Law.
- Increase the penalty for fleeing or evading the police in the first degree to a Class C Felony. The measure prevents the defendant from being released on probation, shock probation, conditional discharge, or parole until he or she has served a minimum of 50% of their sentence.
- Protect employees and business owners who use a reasonable amount of force necessary for self-preservation, to prohibit the escape of a person detained for theft, or to prevent the loss of goods for sale. The measure provides criminal immunity for the worker and business owner.
- Increase penalties for those who are convicted of attempted murder to require them to serve a minimum of 85% of their sentence before they are eligible for early release. The measure adds attempted murder to the violent offense statute.
- Require parents to attend juvenile court hearings.
- Create a carjacking statute and making carjacking a Class B felony.
- Prevent a person from being eligible for probation, parole, conditional discharge, conditional release, or any other form of release prior to the completion of their sentence if, the crime is committed in the following three circumstances: possessed a firearm while being a convicted felon, possessed a firearm that was knowingly stolen, or possessed a firearm while on probation, parole, or early release after conviction of a violent offense.
- Allow the death penalty or life in prison if there is evidence to show that a first responder was intentionally killed while in lawful performance of their duties. The measure requires the offender to pay compensation to family of the victim.
- Require a school employee who knows or has reasonable cause to believe that a person has made threats or plans of violence intended to target a school or students or who knows that a firearm is present on school property, to immediately report the matter to any law enforcement agency created by the local board of education and local or state law enforcement.
- Improve protections for victims of domestic and dating violence by increasing penalties for people who repeatedly violate orders of protection to a Class D felony when they occur within five years and are done intentionally and in person.
HB 5 would also ban street camping on public streets, sidewalks, paths, or public areas normally used by pedestrians and/or vehicles, private property, homes, or businesses in any way. However, the bill authorizes local governments to designate indoor or outdoor areas separate from public areas for camping and requires they designate areas must meet basic sanitation needs. This section has received a lot of attention, with some claiming that it criminalizes homelessness. It does not, but it does bring more attention to the issue and will, hopefully, lead to a stronger approach to addressing the root causes of homelessness. According to recent statistics, 70% or more of the unsheltered homeless population has serious addiction or mental health issues. There is nothing compassionate about allowing these men and women to live on the street, untreated, as they spiral down to premature death. I am hopeful that this provision will help push those who need it into available rehab beds.
As I mentioned, these are only a handful of the provisions included in the bill, if you would like more information about the Safer Kentucky Act, visit https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/24rs/hb5.html or the Legislative Research Commission website at legislature.ky.gov.