republic-os/legislation/us/states/ky/2024rs/hb-385.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT relating to mental capacity."
description: "Amend KRS 311.631, relating to living wills and advance directives, to include an adult friend as an individual authorized to make health care decisions on behalf of a patient who lacks decisional capacity; amend KRS 504.060 to define \"examiner\" and \"secretary\"; amend KRS 504.070 to allow a defendant to introduce evidence of an intellectual disability bearing on the issue of guilt, punishment, or both; require that if a court orders an examination of the defendant's mental condition that the condition be reported to the court; amend KRS 504.080 to establish reasons the court may order an examination of the defendant's mental health; establish criteria for the examination; establish what the court may order if the examiner concludes the defendant needs an inpatient examination; establish that the examiner shall submit a report regarding the defendant's mental health; establish that the examiner's report shall be placed under seal with a notice of filing and that the court shall schedule a status conference or a hearing with 30 days of the filing of the report; amend KRS 504.100 to establish that the court shall order the defendant to be examined for his or her mental condition if the court has reasonable grounds to believe the defendant is incompetent to stand trial; require that the court schedule a status conference or a hearing within 30 days after the filing of the report; amend KRS 504.110 to conform; provide that the Act may be cited as Seth's Law."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ky"
legislature: "Kentucky General Assembly"
session: "2024RS"
identifier: "HB 385"
citation: "Kentucky HB 385 (2024RS)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Civil Actions", "Civil Procedure", "Courts", "Criminal Procedure", "Health and Medical Services", "Hospitals and Nursing Homes", "Mental Disability", "Mental Health", "Physicians and Practitioners", "Short Titles and Popular Names"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["B. Chester-Burton", "K. Moser", "S. Dietz"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 21
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2024-01-25T05:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2024-04-09T04:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/0d0b1c70-ae86-4d96-a8bf-4d04a1fba539"
source_url: "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/24RS/hb385.html"
source_hash: "7a527cf21a93862cd6fff4e89d0447c18905e214be04eee62bdbe623ce8156d4"
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 385 (2024RS) — AN ACT relating to mental capacity.

Amend KRS 311.631, relating to living wills and advance directives, to include an adult friend as an individual authorized to make health care decisions on behalf of a patient who lacks decisional capacity; amend KRS 504.060 to define "examiner" and "secretary"; amend KRS 504.070 to allow a defendant to introduce evidence of an intellectual disability bearing on the issue of guilt, punishment, or both; require that if a court orders an examination of the defendant's mental condition that the condition be reported to the court; amend KRS 504.080 to establish reasons the court may order an examination of the defendant's mental health; establish criteria for the examination; establish what the court may order if the examiner concludes the defendant needs an inpatient examination; establish that the examiner shall submit a report regarding the defendant's mental health; establish that the examiner's report shall be placed under seal with a notice of filing and that the court shall schedule a status conference or a hearing with 30 days of the filing of the report; amend KRS 504.100 to establish that the court shall order the defendant to be examined for his or her mental condition if the court has reasonable grounds to believe the defendant is incompetent to stand trial; require that the court schedule a status conference or a hearing within 30 days after the filing of the report; amend KRS 504.110 to conform; provide that the Act may be cited as Seth's Law.

## 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/24RS/hb385/orig_bill.pdf)
2. **Acts Chapter 138** (committee substitute) — [source](https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/acts/24RS/documents/0138.pdf)
3. **Current/Final** (committee substitute) — [source](https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/recorddocuments/bill/24RS/hb385/bill.pdf)

## Votes

- PASS HB 385 — **pass** (pass) · lower
- Pass — **pass** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- B. Chester-Burton — primary (person)
- K. Moser — primary (person)
- S. Dietz — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2024-01-25T05:00:00+00:00** introduced in House `introduction`
- **2024-01-25T05:00:00+00:00** to Committee on Committees (H) `referral-committee`
- **2024-02-06T05:00:00+00:00** to Judiciary (H) `referral-committee`
- **2024-02-07T05:00:00+00:00** reported favorably, 1st reading, to Calendar `committee-passage`
- **2024-02-08T05:00:00+00:00** 2nd reading, to Rules `reading-2`
- **2024-02-20T05:00:00+00:00** posted for passage in the Regular Orders of the Day for Wednesday, February 21, 2024
- **2024-02-21T05:00:00+00:00** 3rd reading, passed 95-0 `passage, reading-3`
- **2024-02-22T05:00:00+00:00** received in Senate
- **2024-02-22T05:00:00+00:00** to Committee on Committees (S) `referral-committee`
- **2024-02-28T05:00:00+00:00** to Judiciary (S) `referral-committee`
- **2024-03-21T04:00:00+00:00** reported favorably, 1st reading, to Consent Calendar `committee-passage`
- **2024-03-22T04:00:00+00:00** 2nd reading, to Rules as a consent bill `reading-2`
- **2024-03-25T04:00:00+00:00** posted for passage in the Consent Orders of the Day for Tuesday, March 26, 2024
- **2024-03-26T04:00:00+00:00** passed over and retained in the Consent Orders of the Day `passage`
- **2024-03-27T04:00:00+00:00** passed over and retained in the Consent Orders of the Day `passage`
- **2024-03-28T04:00:00+00:00** 3rd reading, passed 38-0 `passage, reading-3`
- **2024-03-28T04:00:00+00:00** received in House
- **2024-03-28T04:00:00+00:00** enrolled, signed by Speaker of the House `passage`
- **2024-03-28T04:00:00+00:00** enrolled, signed by President of the Senate `passage`
- **2024-03-28T04:00:00+00:00** delivered to Governor
- **2024-04-09T04:00:00+00:00** signed by Governor (Acts Ch. 138) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/0d0b1c70-ae86-4d96-a8bf-4d04a1fba539`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Kentucky legislature records).