The bill is expected to be introduced during the next general session at the beginning of next year
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (KT) – A group of Louisville Republican lawmakers released early details of the Safer Kentucky Act on Tuesday, which is designed to tackle crime at many levels and modernize criminal statutes originally written almost 50 years ago.
Rep. Jared Bauman“Earlier this month, we experienced fear and terror in neighborhoods of the very district I represent as a violent criminal preyed on our innocent and unsuspecting neighbors,” said the bill’s primary sponsor, Rep. Jared Bauman. “My constituents are fed up. They don’t feel safe in their own homes and neighborhoods. If we do not do something now, things will only get worse. And, while we talk about crime here in Louisville, it is an issue that unites Kentuckians across the state. Kentuckians deserve better.”
Bauman unveiled his plan during a press conference at the River City Fraternal Order of Police Building in Louisville. It includes:
Targeting Violent Persistent Felony Offenders - “Three Strikes Law”
--Requires life without probation or parole for those convicted of a violent felony that does not qualify as a capital offense if the individual already has two separate violent felony convictions on their criminal record.
--Allows the death penalty to be used if the third violent felony is a capital offense.
Enhancing the Penalty for Fentanyl Delivery Causing Overdose Death
--Death by delivery constitutes murder.
--Allows the death penalty or life without parole for an individual that knowingly sells fentanyl or a fentanyl derivative to another person when the injection, ingestion, inhalation, or other introduction of the fentanyl or fentanyl derivative causes the death of such person.
Promoting Contraband in Detention Facility
--Increases the felony class for providing contraband substances within a jail, prison, or other type of detention center to a Class B felony, punishable by 10-20 years in prison, if convicted. It includes substances such as fentanyl, carfentanil, and fentanyl derivatives.
Other provisions would establish a Kentucky State Police Post in Jefferson County, increasing the penalty for attempted murder, strengthening shopkeeper’s privilege when trying to detain someone involved in a theft of the business, requiring parents to attend juvenile court proceedings involving their child, increasing penalties for vandalism, and establishing a wiretapping law.
The bill is expected to be introduced during the 2024 General Assembly, which begins Jan. 2.
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