republic-os/legislation/us/states/ky/2026rs/sb-10.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT proposing to amend Section 77 of the Constitution of Kentucky relating to limiting the Governor's ability to grant pardons and commute sentences."
description: "Propose to amend Section 77 of the Constitution of Kentucky to prohibit the Governor's ability to grant pardons or commute sentences beginning 60 days prior to a gubernatorial election and ending at that gubernatorial inauguration; amend Section 240 of the Constitution of Kentucky to conform; provide ballot language; submit to voters for ratification or rejection."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ky"
legislature: "Kentucky General Assembly"
session: "2026RS"
identifier: "SB 10"
citation: "Kentucky SB 10 (2026RS)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Constitution", "Ky.", "County Clerks", "Crimes And Punishments", "Elections And Voting", "Governor", "Local Mandate", "Secretary Of State"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["C. McDaniel", "C. Richardson", "D. Carroll", "D. Douglas", "G. Boswell", "G. Elkins", "M. Deneen", "M. Nunn", "M. Wilson", "M. Wise", "R. Mills", "S. Funke Frommeyer", "S. Rawlings"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 25
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2026-01-08T05:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2026-04-01T04:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/99151b0f-e930-43dc-9040-a38a46206969"
source_url: "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/26RS/sb10.html"
source_hash: "f6ae8735c7c507a068ed29f1136906cb20770ea3defd6591bee66d22a2911470"
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 10 (2026RS) — AN ACT proposing to amend Section 77 of the Constitution of Kentucky relating to limiting the Governor's ability to grant pardons and commute sentences.

Propose to amend Section 77 of the Constitution of Kentucky to prohibit the Governor's ability to grant pardons or commute sentences beginning 60 days prior to a gubernatorial election and ending at that gubernatorial inauguration; amend Section 240 of the Constitution of Kentucky to conform; provide ballot language; submit to voters for ratification or rejection.

## 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/sb10/orig_bill.pdf)
2. **Acts Chapter 12** (committee substitute) — [source](https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/acts/26RS/documents/0012.pdf)
3. **Current/Final** (committee substitute) — [source](https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/recorddocuments/bill/26RS/sb10/bill.pdf)

## Votes

- PASS SB 10 — **36–0** (pass) · upper
- Pass — **82–12** (pass) · upper
- FINAL PASSAGE OF SB 10 w/ HFA 1, HFA 2 (T) — **36–1** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- C. McDaniel — primary (person)
- C. Richardson — primary (person)
- D. Carroll — primary (person)
- D. Douglas — primary (person)
- G. Boswell — primary (person)
- G. Elkins — primary (person)
- M. Deneen — primary (person)
- M. Nunn — primary (person)
- M. Wilson — primary (person)
- M. Wise — primary (person)
- R. Mills — primary (person)
- S. Funke Frommeyer — primary (person)
- S. Rawlings — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-01-08T05:00:00+00:00** introduced in Senate `introduction`
- **2026-01-08T05:00:00+00:00** to Committee on Committees (S) `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-12T05:00:00+00:00** to State & Local Government (S) `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-14T05:00:00+00:00** reported favorably, 1st reading, to Calendar `committee-passage`
- **2026-01-15T05:00:00+00:00** 2nd reading, to Rules `reading-2`
- **2026-01-16T05:00:00+00:00** posted for passage in the Regular Orders of the Day for Tuesday, January 20, 2026
- **2026-01-20T05:00:00+00:00** 3rd reading, passed 36-0-1 `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-01-21T05:00:00+00:00** received in House
- **2026-03-13T04:00:00+00:00** to Elections, Const. Amendments & Intergovernmental Affairs (H) `referral-committee`
- **2026-03-26T04:00:00+00:00** reported favorably, 1st reading, to Calendar `committee-passage`
- **2026-03-26T04:00:00+00:00** floor amendments (1) and (2-title) filed `amendment-introduction`
- **2026-03-27T04:00:00+00:00** 2nd reading, to Rules `reading-2`
- **2026-04-01T04:00:00+00:00** taken from Rules
- **2026-04-01T04:00:00+00:00** placed in the Orders of the Day
- **2026-04-01T04:00:00+00:00** floor amendment (1) adopted
- **2026-04-01T04:00:00+00:00** 3rd reading, passed 82-12 with Floor Amendment (1) and Floor Amendment (2-title) `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-04-01T04:00:00+00:00** received in Senate
- **2026-04-01T04:00:00+00:00** to Rules (S) `referral-committee`
- **2026-04-01T04:00:00+00:00** taken from Rules
- **2026-04-01T04:00:00+00:00** posted for passage for concurrence in House Floor Amendment (1) and Floor Amendment (2-title)
- **2026-04-01T04:00:00+00:00** Senate concurred in Floor Amendment (1) and Floor Amendment (2-title)
- **2026-04-01T04:00:00+00:00** passed 36-1 `passage`
- **2026-04-01T04:00:00+00:00** enrolled, signed by President of the Senate `passage`
- **2026-04-01T04:00:00+00:00** enrolled, signed by Speaker of the House `passage`
- **2026-04-01T04:00:00+00:00** delivered to Secretary of State (Acts Ch. 12) `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/99151b0f-e930-43dc-9040-a38a46206969`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Kentucky legislature records).