---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT relating to eminent domain and declaring an emergency."
description: "Amend KRS 382.850 to require a condemnor in an eminent domain action involving property subject to a conservation easement to provide a written report to the court justifying the condemnation due to lack of feasible alternative locations; allow the court to dismiss the condemnation action if the lack of alternative locations is not demonstrated; amend KRS 262.850 to require a condemnor in an eminent domain action involving property located in an agricultural district to provide a written report to the court justifying the condemnation due to lack of feasible alternative locations; allow the court to dismiss the condemnation action if the lack of alternative locations is not demonstrated; amend KRS 416.550 prohibit a condemnor from engaging in false, intimidating, or misleading negotiation tactics; allow a property owner of potentially condemned property to obtain an independent appraisal within 60 days of an initial offer for purchase; reduce the independent appraisal period to 30 days if the property owner refuses the initial offer for purchase; prohibit the filing of a condemnation action within the independent appraisal period; establish a penalty of dismissal of the condemnation action, payment of attorney's fees, and a bar on future condemnation actions for violations; amend KRS 416.560 to specify requirements for contents of notice of entry to owners of property; establish penalty for failure to give notice; require condemnor to give notice of a material change to the project; require condemnor to use only current data for surveys; provide a copy of a survey to the property owner within 15 days of completion; allow the property owner to petition a local legislative body for a public meeting regarding the proposed taking; amend KRS 416.610 to require the condemnor to take measures to ensure access to property during on-site work on a project where only a portion of the property has been condemned; amend KRS 416.660 to include preexisting improvements on property and the value of agricultural improvements in the determination of fair market value of condemned property; amend KRS 416.570, 416.600, 416.630, 416.640, and 416.650 to conform; EMERGENCY."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ky"
legislature: "Kentucky General Assembly"
session: "2026RS"
identifier: "HB 542"
citation: "Kentucky HB 542 (2026RS)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Agriculture", "Civil Actions", "Civil Procedure", "Effective Dates", "Emergency", "Eminent Domain And Condemnation", "Environment And Conservation", "Local Mandate", "Notices", "Property", "Public Utilities", "Real Estate"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["B. Chester-Burton", "M. Dossett", "M. Hart", "R. Bivens"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 19
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2026-02-03T05:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2026-04-13T04:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/f09a5788-a1f5-48f5-ad14-1bce84cff428"
source_url: "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/26RS/hb542.html"
source_hash: "8e294fc746d63c4580797b75a05d980496e1e11b503c06f39dca73fd932b4686"
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 542 (2026RS) — AN ACT relating to eminent domain and declaring an emergency.

Amend KRS 382.850 to require a condemnor in an eminent domain action involving property subject to a conservation easement to provide a written report to the court justifying the condemnation due to lack of feasible alternative locations; allow the court to dismiss the condemnation action if the lack of alternative locations is not demonstrated; amend KRS 262.850 to require a condemnor in an eminent domain action involving property located in an agricultural district to provide a written report to the court justifying the condemnation due to lack of feasible alternative locations; allow the court to dismiss the condemnation action if the lack of alternative locations is not demonstrated; amend KRS 416.550 prohibit a condemnor from engaging in false, intimidating, or misleading negotiation tactics; allow a property owner of potentially condemned property to obtain an independent appraisal within 60 days of an initial offer for purchase; reduce the independent appraisal period to 30 days if the property owner refuses the initial offer for purchase; prohibit the filing of a condemnation action within the independent appraisal period; establish a penalty of dismissal of the condemnation action, payment of attorney's fees, and a bar on future condemnation actions for violations; amend KRS 416.560 to specify requirements for contents of notice of entry to owners of property; establish penalty for failure to give notice; require condemnor to give notice of a material change to the project; require condemnor to use only current data for surveys; provide a copy of a survey to the property owner within 15 days of completion; allow the property owner to petition a local legislative body for a public meeting regarding the proposed taking; amend KRS 416.610 to require the condemnor to take measures to ensure access to property during on-site work on a project where only a portion of the property has been condemned; amend KRS 416.660 to include preexisting improvements on property and the value of agricultural improvements in the determination of fair market value of condemned property; amend KRS 416.570, 416.600, 416.630, 416.640, and 416.650 to conform; 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/26RS/hb542/orig_bill.pdf)
2. **Acts Chapter 112** (committee substitute) — [source](https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/acts/26RS/documents/0112.pdf)
3. **Current/Final** (committee substitute) — [source](https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/recorddocuments/bill/26RS/hb542/bill.pdf)

## Votes

- CONSENT PASSAGE OF HB 542 — **38–0** (pass) · lower
- Pass — **90–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- B. Chester-Burton — primary (person)
- M. Dossett — primary (person)
- M. Hart — primary (person)
- R. Bivens — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-02-03T05:00:00+00:00** introduced in House `introduction`
- **2026-02-03T05:00:00+00:00** to Committee on Committees (H) `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-10T05:00:00+00:00** to Judiciary (H) `referral-committee`
- **2026-03-04T05:00:00+00:00** reported favorably, 1st reading, to Calendar with Committee Substitute (1) `committee-passage`
- **2026-03-05T05:00:00+00:00** 2nd reading, to Rules `reading-2`
- **2026-03-05T05:00:00+00:00** posted for passage in the Regular Orders of the Day for Friday, March 06 2026
- **2026-03-06T05:00:00+00:00** 3rd reading, passed 90-0 with Committee Substitute (1) `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-03-09T04:00:00+00:00** received in Senate
- **2026-03-09T04:00:00+00:00** to Committee on Committees (S) `referral-committee`
- **2026-03-20T04:00:00+00:00** to Agriculture (S) `referral-committee`
- **2026-03-24T04:00:00+00:00** reported favorably, 1st reading, to Consent Calendar `committee-passage`
- **2026-03-25T04:00:00+00:00** 2nd reading, to Rules as a consent bill `reading-2`
- **2026-03-26T04:00:00+00:00** posted for passage in the Consent Orders of the Day for Friday, March 27 2026
- **2026-03-31T04:00:00+00:00** 3rd reading, passed 38-0 `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-03-31T04:00:00+00:00** received in House
- **2026-04-01T04:00:00+00:00** enrolled, signed by Speaker of the House `passage`
- **2026-04-01T04:00:00+00:00** enrolled, signed by President of the Senate `passage`
- **2026-04-01T04:00:00+00:00** delivered to Governor
- **2026-04-13T04:00:00+00:00** signed by Governor (Acts Ch. 112) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/f09a5788-a1f5-48f5-ad14-1bce84cff428`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Kentucky legislature records).