---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT relating to First Amendment rights in public schools."
description: "Create a new section of KRS Chapter 158 to prohibit a school district from punishing an employee for engaging in private religious expression otherwise protected by the First Amendment absent a showing of engaging in actual coercion; provide specific examples of protected activity; establish limits of applicability."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ky"
legislature: "Kentucky General Assembly"
session: "2023RS"
identifier: "HB 547"
citation: "Kentucky HB 547 (2023RS)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Education", "Elementary and Secondary", "Religion", "Teachers"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: []
version_count: 3
action_count: 19
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2023-02-22T05:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2023-03-24T04:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/d4afc986-8edb-4ed3-84a3-f45993e36f05"
source_url: "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/23RS/hb547.html"
source_hash: "a6f7f6a07469ff0f22dd9fe39523678a6c9457eb87cb5fcef3014e27bb986cf3"
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 547 (2023RS) — AN ACT relating to First Amendment rights in public schools.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 158 to prohibit a school district from punishing an employee for engaging in private religious expression otherwise protected by the First Amendment absent a showing of engaging in actual coercion; provide specific examples of protected activity; establish limits of applicability.

## 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/23RS/hb547/orig_bill.pdf)
2. **Acts Chapter 89** (committee substitute) — [source](https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/acts/23RS/documents/0089.pdf)
3. **Current/Final** (committee substitute) — [source](https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/recorddocuments/bill/23RS/hb547/bill.pdf)

## Votes

- Pass — **pass** (pass) · lower
- FINAL PASSAGE HB 547 — **pass** (pass) · lower

## Timeline

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

- **2023-02-22T05:00:00+00:00** introduced in House `introduction`
- **2023-02-22T05:00:00+00:00** to Committee on Committees (H) `referral-committee`
- **2023-03-02T05:00:00+00:00** to Education (H) `referral-committee`
- **2023-03-07T05:00:00+00:00** reported favorably, 1st reading, to Calendar `committee-passage`
- **2023-03-08T05:00:00+00:00** 2nd reading, to Rules `reading-2`
- **2023-03-08T05:00:00+00:00** posted for passage in the Regular Orders of the Day for Thursday, March 09, 2023
- **2023-03-09T05:00:00+00:00** 3rd reading, passed 81-12 `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-03-10T05:00:00+00:00** received in Senate
- **2023-03-10T05:00:00+00:00** to Committee on Committees (S) `referral-committee`
- **2023-03-10T05:00:00+00:00** to Education (S) `referral-committee`
- **2023-03-14T04:00:00+00:00** reported favorably, 1st reading, to Calendar `committee-passage`
- **2023-03-15T04:00:00+00:00** 2nd reading, to Rules `reading-2`
- **2023-03-15T04:00:00+00:00** posted for passage in the Regular Orders of the Day for Thursday, March 16, 2023
- **2023-03-16T04:00:00+00:00** 3rd reading, passed 32 -5 `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-03-16T04:00:00+00:00** received in House
- **2023-03-16T04:00:00+00:00** enrolled, signed by Speaker of the House `passage`
- **2023-03-16T04:00:00+00:00** enrolled, signed by President of the Senate `passage`
- **2023-03-16T04:00:00+00:00** delivered to Governor
- **2023-03-24T04:00:00+00:00** signed by Governor (Acts Ch. 89) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/d4afc986-8edb-4ed3-84a3-f45993e36f05`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Kentucky legislature records).