Kentucky crime bill to become law after lawmakers vote to override Beshear veto

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – A controversial crime bill will become law in Kentucky after state legislators voted Friday to override a veto from Gov. Andy Beshear.

House Bill 5 takes a sweeping approach to criminal justice in the state. It adds carjacking and other crimes to Kentucky's list of violent offenses, beefs up penalties for killing first responders and enacts new penalties for fentanyl trafficking and other related drug charges.

It also sets spending limits for charitable bail organizations and removes parole options for people with three convictions for violent crimes— and, in some cases, includes the death penalty.

Perhaps most controversially, the measure dubbed the “Safer Kentucky Act” creates criminal penalties for street camping and makes repeat camping in public areas, such as beneath overpasses, a misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail.

Beshear, a Democrat, vetoed the Republican-backed legislation this month, writing in his veto message that HB 5 includes some “good parts”, such as destroying firearms used in murders and making carjacking a separate crime. He argued that those and other provisions should have been in their own standalone bills.

“Instead, the legislature chose to include these good policies with dozens of other measures in one unwieldly bill that would criminalize homelessness and significantly increase incarceration costs without any additional appropriation,” the governor wrote.

The bill easily passed the GOP-dominated General Assembly, clearing the House on a 75-23 vote and the Senate on a 27 to 9 vote before breaking for Beshear to consider possible vetoes. Sen. Whitney Westerfield (R-Fruit Hill), the Senate Judiciary Committee chair, was among those casting a “no” vote in the Senate, calling HB 5 “a serious mistake” that is too broad and doesn’t target the problems it aims to fix.

Lawmakers voted to override the veto by a vote of 73-22 in the House and 27-10 in the Senate.

Speaking on the Senate floor Friday evening, Sen. Gerald Neal (D-Louisville) said the bill will create an "unintended consequence" on local governments' jail populations.

And Sen. Karen Berg (D-Louisville) called the legislation a "bad bill" that only contains a few good parts.

"This bill will not take us further as a Commonwealth," she said. "This bill hurts people who need our help and spends millions and millions of taxpayer dollars criminalizing behavior that honestly people don't have a choice sometimes."

Sen. John Schickel (R-Union) said the bill will lead to a "more just Kentucky" and accused opponents of peddling in hypothetical scenarios and not "real life."

He said there are existing problems with homeless people living outside.

"They don't want to go to a shelter, and the reason they don't want to go to a shelter is they can't do drugs in the shelter," Schickel said. "They would rather be in this open-air drug environment. That is not all of them. But that is a lot of them."

Critics like Louisville’s Coalition for the Homeless have said the bill disproportionately impacts the homeless, while others argue it will accelerate jail and prison overcrowding while costing Kentucky untold amounts. The Kentucky Center for Economic Policy has estimated that the changes in the violent offender status will cost more than $800 million over the next decade.

Rep. Jared Bauman (R-Louisville), the bill’s chief sponsor, dismissed criticisms over the lack of a fiscal analysis, telling WDRB News this week that any figures “pale in comparison to what the true cost of the actual crime is in our state.”

Other observers have raised questions about the data and studies referenced by the bill's backers. Louisville Public Media has reported that some authors of that research doubt the legislation's intended effect, while other data stems from a crime plan for Georgia and not Kentucky.

The bill had the support of law enforcement organizations such as the Kentucky State Fraternal Order of Police and the Kentucky Commonwealth’s Attorneys’ Association.

Safer Kentucky Act Coverage: