republic-os/legislation/us/states/ky/2026rs/hb-185.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT relating to employment and declaring an emergency."
description: "Create new sections of KRS Chapter 335B.010 to 335B.070 to require hiring or licensing authorities to establish an application process that gives persons convicted of a crime an opportunity to obtain a determination about whether the crime will disqualify the individual from a position of public employment or occupational license before pursuing employment or training; require hiring or licensing authorities to formulate policies and procedures for the application process by promulgating regulations no later than January 1, 2027; provide an annual report to the Legislative Research Commission by November 1, 2027; provide that certain entities are exempted from the requirements of the application process; amend KRS 335B.020 to add criteria for hiring and licensing authorities to consider when determining if a conviction directly relates to the position of public employment or occupational license sought; amend KRS 335B.030 to require hiring or licensing authorities to evaluate information and provide written findings of fact to the applicant upon determination."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ky"
legislature: "Kentucky General Assembly"
session: "2026RS"
identifier: "HB 185"
citation: "Kentucky HB 185 (2026RS)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Administrative Regulations And Proceedings", "Background Checks", "Crimes And Punishments", "Licensing", "Occupations And Professions", "Personnel And Employment", "State Agencies", "State Employees", "Workforce"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["E. Callaway", "J. Bauman", "M. Koch", "R. Duvall", "T. Roberts", "W. Thomas"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 23
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2026-01-07T05:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2026-04-10T04:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/e153fe49-5886-4f65-b35d-b97c9dc35d61"
source_url: "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/26RS/hb185.html"
source_hash: "1c9c92244ef90ec59a322de2d1c6148c0a2afc00d18ad9858ca7d3a9c32624b5"
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 185 (2026RS) — AN ACT relating to employment and declaring an emergency.

Create new sections of KRS Chapter 335B.010 to 335B.070 to require hiring or licensing authorities to establish an application process that gives persons convicted of a crime an opportunity to obtain a determination about whether the crime will disqualify the individual from a position of public employment or occupational license before pursuing employment or training; require hiring or licensing authorities to formulate policies and procedures for the application process by promulgating regulations no later than January 1, 2027; provide an annual report to the Legislative Research Commission by November 1, 2027; provide that certain entities are exempted from the requirements of the application process; amend KRS 335B.020 to add criteria for hiring and licensing authorities to consider when determining if a conviction directly relates to the position of public employment or occupational license sought; amend KRS 335B.030 to require hiring or licensing authorities to evaluate information and provide written findings of fact to the applicant upon determination.

## 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/hb185/orig_bill.pdf)
2. **Acts Chapter 72** (committee substitute) — [source](https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/acts/26RS/documents/0072.pdf)
3. **Current/Final** (committee substitute) — [source](https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/recorddocuments/bill/26RS/hb185/bill.pdf)

## Votes

- Final Passage — **91–0** (pass) · lower
- PASS HB 185 w/ SCS 1, SCA 1 (T) — **37–0** (pass) · lower
- Pass — **95–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- E. Callaway — primary (person)
- J. Bauman — primary (person)
- M. Koch — primary (person)
- R. Duvall — primary (person)
- T. Roberts — primary (person)
- W. Thomas — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-01-07T05:00:00+00:00** introduced in House `introduction`
- **2026-01-07T05:00:00+00:00** to Committee on Committees (H) `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-14T05:00:00+00:00** to Licensing, Occupations, & Administrative Regulations (H) `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-18T05:00:00+00:00** reported favorably, 1st reading, to Calendar `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-19T05:00:00+00:00** 2nd reading, to Rules `reading-2`
- **2026-02-20T05:00:00+00:00** posted for passage in the Regular Orders of the Day for Monday, February 23 2026
- **2026-02-23T05:00:00+00:00** 3rd reading, passed 95-0 `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-02-24T05:00:00+00:00** received in Senate
- **2026-02-24T05:00:00+00:00** to Committee on Committees (S) `referral-committee`
- **2026-03-13T04:00:00+00:00** to Licensing & Occupations (S) `referral-committee`
- **2026-03-17T04:00:00+00:00** reported favorably, 1st reading, to Calendar with Committee Substitute (1) and Committee Amendment (1-title) `committee-passage`
- **2026-03-18T04:00:00+00:00** 2nd reading, to Rules `reading-2`
- **2026-03-19T04:00:00+00:00** posted for passage in the Regular Orders of the Day for Friday, March 20 2026
- **2026-03-20T04:00:00+00:00** 3rd reading, passed 37-0 with Committee Substitute (1) and Committee Amendment (1-title) `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-03-20T04:00:00+00:00** received in House
- **2026-03-20T04:00:00+00:00** to Rules (H) `referral-committee`
- **2026-03-27T04:00:00+00:00** posted for passage for concurrence in Senate Committee Substitute (1) and Committee Amendment (1-title)
- **2026-03-31T04:00:00+00:00** House concurred in Committee Substitute (1) and Committee Amendment (1-title)
- **2026-03-31T04:00:00+00:00** passed 91-0 `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
- **2026-04-10T04:00:00+00:00** signed by Governor (Acts Ch. 72) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/e153fe49-5886-4f65-b35d-b97c9dc35d61`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Kentucky legislature records).