The Kentucky General Assembly is looking at a package of legislation aimed at strengthening transparency with deaths involving law enforcement and corrections.
Sen. Keturah J. Herron, a Democrat out of Louisville, has introduced a three-part legislative package. It addresses deaths that occur in Kentucky’s jails and prisons, during the arrest process, and in behavioral health crisis situations where traditional law enforcement response is not the safest or most effective option.
Herron says more than 230 deaths in Kentucky jails between 2020 and 2024, highlighting the need for clearer public reporting, independent review, and stronger prevention strategies.
Her legislative package includes two bills and one resolution.
Those include:
Senate Bill 208 Arrest-Related Deaths Transparency and Reporting
This legislation expands Kentucky’s post-mortem requirements to include deaths that occur during the process of arrest or while en route to incarceration, closing a gap between arrest and booking. It also requires timely notification to the Office of the Kentucky State Medical Examiner and directs publication of an annual report with non-identifying demographic and incident details broken down by county and agency.
Senate Bill 209 External Detainee Fatality Review Panel
This bill would create an independent External Detainee Fatality Review Panel to review deaths of individuals in the custody of law enforcement, county jails, state correctional facilities, juvenile justice facilities, and contracted private facilities. The panel will have access to key records, publish findings and recommendations, and issue an annual report focused on system and process improvements to prevent future fatalities
Senate Concurrent Resolution 110
The resolution directs the Legislative Research Commission to establish a task force to study and recommend alternative community response models for mental health crises, with input from law enforcement, the courts, state agencies, and mental health advocacy organizations. Kentucky’s need is urgent. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), nearly 813,000 Kentucky adults experience a mental health condition each year, and Kentucky’s 988 crisis line centers received 30,073 calls in 2023.
These have been filed and are now before the General Assembly.
