republic-os/legislation/us/states/ky/2026rs/sb-85.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT relating to designating a special needs trust to receive state-administered retirement benefits."
description: "Amend KRS 16.505, 61.510, and 78.510 to define \"special needs trust\" (SNT) for purposes of the State Police Retirement System, Kentucky Employees Retirement System, and County Employees Retirement System; amend the definition of \"beneficiary\" to include a SNT; amend KRS 16.578 to allow a SNT to receive a lifetime retirement payment if a member dies before retirement; amend KRS 61.635 to allow a person who is the beneficiary of a SNT to be designated as the beneficiary of a lifetime retirement benefit; require the trustee of a SNT to notify the Kentucky Public Pensions Authority (KPPA) upon the death of the beneficiary of a SNT and repay any payment not properly payable to the SNT; allow KPPA to promulgate administrative regulations to administer the SNT provisions; amend KRS 61.640 to allow a SNT to receive a lifetime retirement payment if a member dies before retirement; amend KRS 61.690 to allow a recipient or legal representative to direct retirement benefits to be paid to a SNT and clarify that it is not an assignment or transfer; amend KRS 78.5532 to allow a SNT to receive a lifetime retirement benefit if a member dies before retirement; amend KRS 161.525, relating to the Teachers' Retirement System (TRS) to allow a SNT to receive a lifetime annuity if a member dies before retirement; amend KRS 161.640 to allow checks to be sent by mail to the trustee of a SNT; require the trustee to notify the TRS upon the death of the beneficiary; require any payments not properly payable to the SNT to be repaid to TRS; allow TRS to promulgate administrative regulations to administer the SNT provisions; amend KRS 161.700 to require TRS to assign annuity payments to a SNT, issue payments to the trustee, and prevent annuity payments from being used to reimburse any state for any Medicaid benefits paid on behalf of the beneficiary of a SNT; amend KRS 21.420, relating to the Judicial Retirement Plan, to allow for a SNT to be selected as a beneficiary, and define \"special needs trust\"; amend KRS 21.425 to allow a member to designate a SNT to receive lifetime survivorship benefits on behalf of a surviving spouse, dependent child, or disabled child."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ky"
legislature: "Kentucky General Assembly"
session: "2026RS"
identifier: "SB 85"
citation: "Kentucky SB 85 (2026RS)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Actuarial Analysis", "Judges And Court Commissioners", "Public Officers And Employees", "Retirement And Pensions", "State Agencies", "Teachers"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["D. Carroll", "R. Webb"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 19
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2026-01-13T05:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2026-04-03T04:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/dcc399bc-1695-42a9-83b0-056431cca2db"
source_url: "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/26RS/sb85.html"
source_hash: "4656cee0b8f96404dc1796497bdf9a297b2cd86e9538eb769ca88aca8d76175a"
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 85 (2026RS) — AN ACT relating to designating a special needs trust to receive state-administered retirement benefits.

Amend KRS 16.505, 61.510, and 78.510 to define "special needs trust" (SNT) for purposes of the State Police Retirement System, Kentucky Employees Retirement System, and County Employees Retirement System; amend the definition of "beneficiary" to include a SNT; amend KRS 16.578 to allow a SNT to receive a lifetime retirement payment if a member dies before retirement; amend KRS 61.635 to allow a person who is the beneficiary of a SNT to be designated as the beneficiary of a lifetime retirement benefit; require the trustee of a SNT to notify the Kentucky Public Pensions Authority (KPPA) upon the death of the beneficiary of a SNT and repay any payment not properly payable to the SNT; allow KPPA to promulgate administrative regulations to administer the SNT provisions; amend KRS 61.640 to allow a SNT to receive a lifetime retirement payment if a member dies before retirement; amend KRS 61.690 to allow a recipient or legal representative to direct retirement benefits to be paid to a SNT and clarify that it is not an assignment or transfer; amend KRS 78.5532 to allow a SNT to receive a lifetime retirement benefit if a member dies before retirement; amend KRS 161.525, relating to the Teachers' Retirement System (TRS) to allow a SNT to receive a lifetime annuity if a member dies before retirement; amend KRS 161.640 to allow checks to be sent by mail to the trustee of a SNT; require the trustee to notify the TRS upon the death of the beneficiary; require any payments not properly payable to the SNT to be repaid to TRS; allow TRS to promulgate administrative regulations to administer the SNT provisions; amend KRS 161.700 to require TRS to assign annuity payments to a SNT, issue payments to the trustee, and prevent annuity payments from being used to reimburse any state for any Medicaid benefits paid on behalf of the beneficiary of a SNT; amend KRS 21.420, relating to the Judicial Retirement Plan, to allow for a SNT to be selected as a beneficiary, and define "special needs trust"; amend KRS 21.425 to allow a member to designate a SNT to receive lifetime survivorship benefits on behalf of a surviving spouse, dependent child, or disabled child.

## 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/sb85/orig_bill.pdf)
2. **Acts Chapter 18** (committee substitute) — [source](https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/acts/26RS/documents/0018.pdf)
3. **Current/Final** (committee substitute) — [source](https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/recorddocuments/bill/26RS/sb85/bill.pdf)

## Votes

- PASS SB 85 — **36–0** (pass) · upper
- Pass — **90–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- D. Carroll — primary (person)
- R. Webb — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-01-13T05:00:00+00:00** introduced in Senate `introduction`
- **2026-01-13T05:00:00+00:00** to Committee on Committees (S) `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-02T05:00:00+00:00** to State & Local Government (S) `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-04T05:00:00+00:00** reported favorably, 1st reading, to Calendar `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-05T05:00:00+00:00** 2nd reading, to Rules `reading-2`
- **2026-02-13T05:00:00+00:00** posted for passage in the Regular Orders of the Day for Wednesday, February 18 2026
- **2026-02-18T05:00:00+00:00** 3rd reading, passed 36-0 `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-02-19T05:00:00+00:00** received in House
- **2026-02-19T05:00:00+00:00** to Committee on Committees (H) `referral-committee`
- **2026-03-16T04:00:00+00:00** to State Government (H) `referral-committee`
- **2026-03-19T04:00:00+00:00** reported favorably, 1st reading, to Calendar `committee-passage`
- **2026-03-20T04:00:00+00:00** 2nd reading, to Rules `reading-2`
- **2026-03-26T04:00:00+00:00** posted for passage in the Regular Orders of the Day for Friday, March 27 2026
- **2026-03-27T04:00:00+00:00** 3rd reading, passed 90-0 `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-03-27T04:00:00+00:00** received in Senate
- **2026-03-27T04:00:00+00:00** enrolled, signed by President of the Senate `passage`
- **2026-03-27T04:00:00+00:00** enrolled, signed by Speaker of the House `passage`
- **2026-03-27T04:00:00+00:00** delivered to Governor
- **2026-04-03T04:00:00+00:00** signed by Governor (Acts Ch. 18) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/dcc399bc-1695-42a9-83b0-056431cca2db`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Kentucky legislature records).