---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT relating to freedom of speech at public postsecondary education institutions."
description: "AN ACT relating to freedom of speech at public postsecondary education institutions."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ky"
legislature: "Kentucky General Assembly"
session: "2019RS"
identifier: "HB 254"
citation: "Kentucky HB 254 (2019RS)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Education", "Higher", "Universities and Colleges", "Civil Rights", "Claims", "Short Titles and Popular Names"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["D. Bentley", "D. Hale", "D. Lewis", "D. Osborne", "J. Fischer", "J. Sims Jr", "K. Moser", "L. Bechler", "M. Dossett", "M. Hart", "M. Prunty", "P. Minter", "R. Huff", "S. Maddox", "S. Maddox", "S. Santoro", "W. Thomas"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 24
vote_count: 0
first_action: "2019-02-06T05:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2019-03-26T04:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/0527a688-6135-4bec-aaba-b6be0f64492a"
source_url: "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/19RS/hb254.html"
source_hash: "47cc720f7c2420ffcda92c68194c6ec513e7ce09ba4b83d092667a2a2f1ff5b6"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ky"]
---

# Kentucky HB 254 (2019RS) — AN ACT relating to freedom of speech at public postsecondary education institutions.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Current/Final** (committee substitute) — [source](https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/recorddocuments/bill/19RS/hb254/bill.pdf)

## Sponsors

- D. Bentley — primary (person)
- D. Hale — primary (person)
- D. Lewis — primary (person)
- D. Osborne — primary (person)
- J. Fischer — primary (person)
- J. Sims Jr — primary (person)
- K. Moser — primary (person)
- L. Bechler — primary (person)
- M. Dossett — primary (person)
- M. Hart — primary (person)
- M. Prunty — primary (person)
- P. Minter — primary (person)
- R. Huff — primary (person)
- S. Maddox — primary (person)
- S. Maddox — primary (person)
- S. Santoro — primary (person)
- W. Thomas — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2019-02-06T05:00:00+00:00** introduced in House `introduction`
- **2019-02-07T05:00:00+00:00** to Education (H) `referral-committee`
- **2019-02-22T05:00:00+00:00** posted in committee
- **2019-02-26T05:00:00+00:00** reported favorably, 1st reading, to Calendar
- **2019-02-27T05:00:00+00:00** 2nd reading, to Rules `reading-2`
- **2019-02-27T05:00:00+00:00** posted for passage in the Regular Orders of the Day for Thursday, February 28, 2019
- **2019-03-04T05:00:00+00:00** floor amendments (1) filed `amendment-introduction`
- **2019-03-07T05:00:00+00:00** 3rd reading `reading-3`
- **2019-03-07T05:00:00+00:00** returned to the Orders of the Day
- **2019-03-07T05:00:00+00:00** floor amendment (2) filed `amendment-introduction`
- **2019-03-12T04:00:00+00:00** passed 64-33 with floor amendment (2) `passage`
- **2019-03-12T04:00:00+00:00** received in Senate
- **2019-03-12T04:00:00+00:00** to State & Local Government (S) `referral-committee`
- **2019-03-12T04:00:00+00:00** taken from State & Local Government (S)
- **2019-03-12T04:00:00+00:00** 1st reading `reading-1`
- **2019-03-12T04:00:00+00:00** returned to State & Local Government (S)
- **2019-03-13T04:00:00+00:00** reported favorably, 2nd reading, to Rules
- **2019-03-14T04:00:00+00:00** posted for passage in the Regular Orders of the Day for Thursday, March 14, 2019
- **2019-03-14T04:00:00+00:00** 3rd reading, passed 30-7 `reading-3`
- **2019-03-14T04:00:00+00:00** received in House
- **2019-03-14T04:00:00+00:00** enrolled, signed by Speaker of the House
- **2019-03-14T04:00:00+00:00** enrolled, signed by President of the Senate
- **2019-03-14T04:00:00+00:00** delivered to Governor
- **2019-03-26T04:00:00+00:00** signed by Governor (KY Acts ch.169) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/0527a688-6135-4bec-aaba-b6be0f64492a`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Kentucky legislature records).