---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT relating to legal actions concerning the exercise of a person's constitutional rights."
description: "Create new sections of KRS Chapter 454 to provide definitions and establish procedures for dismissing legal actions filed in response to a party's exercise of free speech, right to petition, or right to association; allow for an immediate appeal as a matter of right; allow for costs to be awarded to the moving party if dismissal is granted; allow for costs to be awarded to responding party if the motion was found to be frivolous or filed with the intent to delay; provide that this Act may be cited as the Uniform Public Expression Protection Act."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ky"
legislature: "Kentucky General Assembly"
session: "2022RS"
identifier: "HB 222"
citation: "Kentucky HB 222 (2022RS)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Civil Actions", "Civil Procedure", "Constitution", "Ky.", "Constitution", "U.S.", "Short Titles and Popular Names"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["A. Gentry", "C. Massey", "D. Graham", "G. Brown Jr.", "J. Nemes", "L. Willner", "M. Marzian", "N. Kulkarni", "P. Minter", "R. Palumbo", "S. Westrom", "T. Bojanowski"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 26
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2022-01-05T05:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2022-04-20T04:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/6e817373-f469-4a6f-a32d-4659f86a415d"
source_url: "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/22RS/hb222.html"
source_hash: "8f12ce533dfc685ebce74c9fa99fd0dbf19222f87c201de312702ca329cc6333"
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 222 (2022RS) — AN ACT relating to legal actions concerning the exercise of a person's constitutional rights.

Create new sections of KRS Chapter 454 to provide definitions and establish procedures for dismissing legal actions filed in response to a party's exercise of free speech, right to petition, or right to association; allow for an immediate appeal as a matter of right; allow for costs to be awarded to the moving party if dismissal is granted; allow for costs to be awarded to responding party if the motion was found to be frivolous or filed with the intent to delay; provide that this Act may be cited as the Uniform Public Expression Protection Act.

## Version chain

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

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/recorddocuments/bill/22RS/hb222/orig_bill.pdf)
2. **Acts Chapter 233** (committee substitute) — [source](https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/acts/22RS/documents/0233.pdf)
3. **Current/Final** (committee substitute) — [source](https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/recorddocuments/bill/22RS/hb222/bill.pdf)

## Votes

- Pass — **pass** (pass) · lower
- FINAL PASSAGE HB 222 — **pass** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- A. Gentry — primary (person)
- C. Massey — primary (person)
- D. Graham — primary (person)
- G. Brown Jr. — primary (person)
- J. Nemes — primary (person)
- L. Willner — primary (person)
- M. Marzian — primary (person)
- N. Kulkarni — primary (person)
- P. Minter — primary (person)
- R. Palumbo — primary (person)
- S. Westrom — primary (person)
- T. Bojanowski — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2022-01-05T05:00:00+00:00** introduced in House `introduction`
- **2022-01-05T05:00:00+00:00** to Committee on Committees (H) `referral-committee`
- **2022-02-08T05:00:00+00:00** to Judiciary (H) `referral-committee`
- **2022-02-09T05:00:00+00:00** reported favorably, 1st reading, to Calendar with Committee Substitute (1) `committee-passage`
- **2022-02-10T05:00:00+00:00** 2nd reading, to Rules `reading-2`
- **2022-02-14T05:00:00+00:00** posted for passage in the Regular Orders of the Day for Tuesday, February 15, 2022
- **2022-02-15T05:00:00+00:00** floor amendment (1) filed to Committee Substitute `amendment-introduction`
- **2022-02-18T05:00:00+00:00** 3rd reading, passed 82-0 with Committee Substitute (1) and Floor Amendment (1) `passage, reading-3`
- **2022-02-22T05:00:00+00:00** received in Senate
- **2022-02-22T05:00:00+00:00** to Committee on Committees (S) `referral-committee`
- **2022-03-01T05:00:00+00:00** to Judiciary (S) `referral-committee`
- **2022-03-17T04:00:00+00:00** reported favorably, 1st reading, to Calendar `committee-passage`
- **2022-03-18T04:00:00+00:00** 2nd reading, to Rules `reading-2`
- **2022-03-24T04:00:00+00:00** posted for passage in the Regular Orders of the Day for Tuesday, March 29, 2022
- **2022-03-29T04:00:00+00:00** floor amendments (2) and (1-title) filed `amendment-introduction`
- **2022-03-29T04:00:00+00:00** passed over and retained in the Orders of the Day `passage`
- **2022-03-30T04:00:00+00:00** passed over and retained in the Orders of the Day `passage`
- **2022-04-13T04:00:00+00:00** passed over and retained in the Orders of the Day `passage`
- **2022-04-14T04:00:00+00:00** 3rd reading `reading-3`
- **2022-04-14T04:00:00+00:00** floor amendments (1-title) and (2) withdrawn
- **2022-04-14T04:00:00+00:00** passed 30-2 `passage`
- **2022-04-14T04:00:00+00:00** received in House
- **2022-04-14T04:00:00+00:00** enrolled, signed by Speaker of the House `passage`
- **2022-04-14T04:00:00+00:00** enrolled, signed by President of the Senate `passage`
- **2022-04-14T04:00:00+00:00** delivered to Governor
- **2022-04-20T04:00:00+00:00** signed by Governor (Acts Ch. 233) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/6e817373-f469-4a6f-a32d-4659f86a415d`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Kentucky legislature records).