A slew of new laws are now in effect in Kentucky

The Kentucky General Assembly passed nearly 200 bills during the 2026 session of the Kentucky General Assembly in the first quarter of this year, and now many of them have become law.

The state constitution specifies that new laws take effect 90 days after the legislature adjourns unless they have special effective dates, are general appropriation measures, or include emergency clauses that make them effective immediately upon becoming law.

The Legislative Research Commission posted an update on these new laws. House Bill 366 expands child pornography laws to include computer-generated images of a minor. It also requires someone convicted of possessing or viewing child pornography to serve at least 85% of their criminal sentence.

The Crystal Rogers Act, House Bill 305, looks to preserve the integrity of grand jury proceedings by strengthening the penalty for illegally recording or sharing information on those proceedings.

House Bill 312 makes it so Kentuckians who are 18-years-old or older can obtain a provisional concealed carry permit. Meanwhile, House Bill 904 implements broad reform in the Commonwealth’s wagering and gaming laws. One of those reforms increases the age to participate in sports wagering from 18 to 21-years-old, and also prohibits those who appear on the Attorney Generals child support delinquent list cannot participate in online sports betting.

House Bill 4 has come into effect, and it criminalizes actions to manipulate minors into sexual contact with an adulting, also known as ‘grooming’.

Senate Bill 104 seeks to prevent interference or harassment of first responders. It will create a 25-foot safe zone around police, firefighters and others while they are performing their official duties. Anyone who stays in that zone could face criminal charges, should they ignore warnings to move back.

Also from the Senate, Senate Bill 2 prohibits school administrators from receiving a percentage pay raise that is greater than the pay increase provided to classroom teachers in the district. House Bill 7 will allow school districts to install traffic cameras on school buses to help enforce laws against stop-arm traffic violations.

House Bill 422, also known as Logan’s Law, clarifies the defense of insanity into criminal law. It will also prevent juries and courts from applying the insanity defense inconsistently when returning verdicts for multiple counts arising from a single course of conduct.

There are of course many and more laws that were passed and now come into effect, all of which can be researched and found on the Kentucky Legislative Research Commission website.