---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT relating to education and declaring an emergency."
description: "Create a new section of KRS Chapter 158 to define \"harmful to minors\"; require local boards of education to adopt a complaint resolution policy to address parent complaints about materials that are harmful to minors; require the school to ensure that a student whose parent has filed a complaint does not have access to the material; require the Kentucky Department of Education to promulgate model complaint resolution policy; EMERGENCY."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ky"
legislature: "Kentucky General Assembly"
session: "2023RS"
identifier: "SB 5"
citation: "Kentucky SB 5 (2023RS)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Administrative Regulations and Proceedings", "Children and Minors", "Education", "Elementary and Secondary", "Effective Dates", "Emergency", "Parental Rights"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: []
version_count: 3
action_count: 31
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2023-02-07T05:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2023-03-29T04:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/60011591-2bfd-43d4-8930-e069881c1597"
source_url: "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/23RS/sb5.html"
source_hash: "35024710ab630dd2ab148844fd43048a6ad2aa967b98d11a8e4551567b86ab2f"
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 SB 5 (2023RS) — AN ACT relating to education and declaring an emergency.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 158 to define "harmful to minors"; require local boards of education to adopt a complaint resolution policy to address parent complaints about materials that are harmful to minors; require the school to ensure that a student whose parent has filed a complaint does not have access to the material; require the Kentucky Department of Education to promulgate model complaint resolution policy; EMERGENCY.

## 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/sb5/orig_bill.pdf)
2. **Acts Chapter 120** (committee substitute) — [source](https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/acts/23RS/documents/0120.pdf)
3. **Current/Final** (committee substitute) — [source](https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/recorddocuments/bill/23RS/sb5/bill.pdf)

## Votes

- PASS SB 5 W/ scs1 — **pass** (pass) · upper
- Suspend the Rules — **fail** (fail) · upper
- Suspend the Rules — **fail** (fail) · upper
- Final Passage — **pass** (pass) · upper
- Adopt — **fail** (fail) · upper
- Appeal the Ruling — **pass** (pass) · upper

## Timeline

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

- **2023-02-07T05:00:00+00:00** introduced in Senate `introduction`
- **2023-02-07T05:00:00+00:00** to Committee on Committees (S) `referral-committee`
- **2023-02-09T05:00:00+00:00** to Education (S) `referral-committee`
- **2023-02-21T05:00:00+00:00** taken from Education (S)
- **2023-02-21T05:00:00+00:00** 1st reading `reading-1`
- **2023-02-21T05:00:00+00:00** returned to Education (S)
- **2023-02-22T05:00:00+00:00** taken from Education (S)
- **2023-02-22T05:00:00+00:00** 2nd reading `reading-2`
- **2023-02-22T05:00:00+00:00** returned to Education (S)
- **2023-02-23T05:00:00+00:00** reported favorably, to Rules with Committee Substitute (1) `committee-passage`
- **2023-02-23T05:00:00+00:00** posted for passage in the Regular Orders of the Day for Thursday, February 23, 2023
- **2023-02-23T05:00:00+00:00** 3rd reading, passed 29-4 with Committee Substitute (1) `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-02-24T05:00:00+00:00** received in House
- **2023-02-24T05:00:00+00:00** to Committee on Committees (H) `referral-committee`
- **2023-03-02T05:00:00+00:00** to Education (H) `referral-committee`
- **2023-03-13T04:00:00+00:00** reported favorably, 1st reading, to Calendar `committee-passage`
- **2023-03-13T04:00:00+00:00** floor amendments (1) and (2) filed `amendment-introduction`
- **2023-03-14T04:00:00+00:00** 2nd reading, to Rules `reading-2`
- **2023-03-14T04:00:00+00:00** floor amendment (3) filed `amendment-introduction`
- **2023-03-14T04:00:00+00:00** posted for passage in the Regular Orders of the Day for Wednesday, March 15, 2023
- **2023-03-15T04:00:00+00:00** floor amendments (4), (5-title), (6) and (7-title) filed
- **2023-03-15T04:00:00+00:00** 3rd reading `reading-3`
- **2023-03-15T04:00:00+00:00** floor amendment (3) ruled not germane
- **2023-03-15T04:00:00+00:00** floor amendment (1) defeated
- **2023-03-15T04:00:00+00:00** passed 80-18 `passage`
- **2023-03-16T04:00:00+00:00** received in Senate
- **2023-03-16T04:00:00+00:00** enrolled, signed by President of the Senate `passage`
- **2023-03-16T04:00:00+00:00** enrolled, signed by Speaker of the House `passage`
- **2023-03-16T04:00:00+00:00** delivered to Governor
- **2023-03-27T04:00:00+00:00** filed without Governor's signature with the Secretary of State
- **2023-03-29T04:00:00+00:00** became law without Governor's Signature (Acts Ch. 120) `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/60011591-2bfd-43d4-8930-e069881c1597`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Kentucky legislature records).