---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT relating to school bus safety."
description: "Create new sections of KRS Chapter 158 to define terms; allow the use of camera monitoring systems on school buses operated by a school district and allow the enforcement of a civil penalty for stop arm camera violations recorded by a camera monitoring system; establish the amount of the civil penalty; require that the revenue generated from a civil penalty be retained by the school district; allow a law enforcement agency to charge a fee of $25 from every civil penalty enforced by the law enforcement agency; require specific notice for a stop arm camera violation; establish defenses to a violation; establish procedures for a contest to a violation; allow for suspension of motor vehicle registration for failure to timely pay a penalty; require a school district or law enforcement agency to notify the Transportation Cabinet of the need to release a motor vehicle registration suspension within 1 business day of payment; amend KRS 189.370 to require traffic in the opposite direction of a school or church bus to stop for the bus on a highway that is not divided by an elevated barrier or unpaved median;amend KRS 189.990 to increase the maximum fines for failing to stop for a school or church bus that is receiving or discharging passengers."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ky"
legislature: "Kentucky General Assembly"
session: "2026RS"
identifier: "HB 7"
citation: "Kentucky HB 7 (2026RS)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Courts", "District", "Crimes And Punishments", "Education", "Elementary And Secondary", "Highways", "Streets", "And Bridges", "Motor Vehicles", "Police", "City And County", "Police", "State", "Traffic Safety", "Transportation"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["C. Aull", "D. Grossberg", "D. Hale", "G. Brown Jr.", "K. King"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 24
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2026-01-15T05:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2026-04-09T04:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/9c1c89c0-7173-4ca4-9880-6d4c63ab9d0f"
source_url: "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/26RS/hb7.html"
source_hash: "3a67f13bf8ccf900af1177e35527478828dc86fad5c0ae4976d1bbacfb0f3a16"
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 7 (2026RS) — AN ACT relating to school bus safety.

Create new sections of KRS Chapter 158 to define terms; allow the use of camera monitoring systems on school buses operated by a school district and allow the enforcement of a civil penalty for stop arm camera violations recorded by a camera monitoring system; establish the amount of the civil penalty; require that the revenue generated from a civil penalty be retained by the school district; allow a law enforcement agency to charge a fee of $25 from every civil penalty enforced by the law enforcement agency; require specific notice for a stop arm camera violation; establish defenses to a violation; establish procedures for a contest to a violation; allow for suspension of motor vehicle registration for failure to timely pay a penalty; require a school district or law enforcement agency to notify the Transportation Cabinet of the need to release a motor vehicle registration suspension within 1 business day of payment; amend KRS 189.370 to require traffic in the opposite direction of a school or church bus to stop for the bus on a highway that is not divided by an elevated barrier or unpaved median;amend KRS 189.990 to increase the maximum fines for failing to stop for a school or church bus that is receiving or discharging passengers.

## 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/hb7/orig_bill.pdf)
2. **Acts Chapter 62** (committee substitute) — [source](https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/acts/26RS/documents/0062.pdf)
3. **Current/Final** (committee substitute) — [source](https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/recorddocuments/bill/26RS/hb7/bill.pdf)

## Votes

- PASS HB 7 w/ SCS 1 — **37–1** (pass) · lower
- Final Passage — **79–11** (pass) · lower
- Pass — **78–15** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- C. Aull — primary (person)
- D. Grossberg — primary (person)
- D. Hale — primary (person)
- G. Brown Jr. — primary (person)
- K. King — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-01-15T05:00:00+00:00** introduced in House `introduction`
- **2026-01-15T05:00:00+00:00** to Committee on Committees (H) `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-23T05:00:00+00:00** to Transportation (H) `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-03T05:00:00+00:00** reported favorably, 1st reading, to Calendar `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-04T05:00:00+00:00** 2nd reading, to Rules `reading-2`
- **2026-02-06T05:00:00+00:00** posted for passage in the Regular Orders of the Day for Monday, February 09 2026
- **2026-02-09T05:00:00+00:00** 3rd reading, passed 78-15 `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-02-10T05:00:00+00:00** received in Senate
- **2026-02-10T05:00:00+00:00** to Committee on Committees (S) `referral-committee`
- **2026-03-16T04:00:00+00:00** to Veterans, Military Affairs, & Public Protection (S) `referral-committee`
- **2026-03-19T04:00:00+00:00** reported favorably, 1st reading, to Calendar with Committee Substitute (1) `committee-passage`
- **2026-03-20T04:00:00+00:00** 2nd reading, to Rules `reading-2`
- **2026-03-20T04:00:00+00:00** posted for passage in the Regular Orders of the Day for Tuesday, March 24 2026
- **2026-03-24T04:00:00+00:00** passed over and retained in the Orders of the Day `passage`
- **2026-03-25T04:00:00+00:00** 3rd reading, passed 37-1 with Committee Substitute (1) `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-03-26T04:00:00+00:00** received in House
- **2026-03-26T04:00:00+00:00** to Rules (H) `referral-committee`
- **2026-03-27T04:00:00+00:00** posted for passage for concurrence in Senate Committee Substitute (1)
- **2026-03-31T04:00:00+00:00** House concurred in Committee Substitute (1)
- **2026-03-31T04:00:00+00:00** passed 79-11 `passage`
- **2026-03-31T04:00:00+00:00** enrolled, signed by Speaker of the House `passage`
- **2026-03-31T04:00:00+00:00** enrolled, signed by President of the Senate `passage`
- **2026-03-31T04:00:00+00:00** delivered to Governor
- **2026-04-09T04:00:00+00:00** signed by Governor (Acts Ch. 62) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/9c1c89c0-7173-4ca4-9880-6d4c63ab9d0f`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Kentucky legislature records).