A controversial crime bill will become law in Kentucky after state legislators voted Friday to override a veto from Governor Andy Beshear.
House Bill 5 takes a sweeping approach to criminal justice in the state. It adds carjacking and other crimes to Kentucky’s list of violent offenses, beefs up penalties for killing first responders and enacts new penalties for fentanyl trafficking and other related drug charges.
It also sets spending limits for charitable bail organizations and removes parole options for people with three convictions for violent crimes and, in some cases, includes the death penalty.
Perhaps most controversially, the measure dubbed the “Safer Kentucky Act” creates criminal penalties for street camping and makes repeat camping in public areas, such as beneath overpasses, a misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail.
Beshear, a Democrat, vetoed the Republican-backed legislation this month, writing in his veto message that HB 5 includes some “good parts”, such as destroying firearms used in murders and making carjacking a separate crime. He argued that those and other provisions should have been in their own standalone bills.
The bill easily passed the GOP-dominated General Assembly, clearing the House on a 75-23 vote and the Senate on a 27 to 9 vote before breaking for Beshear to consider possible vetoes.
Lawmakers voted to override the veto by a vote of 73-22 in the House and 27-10 in the Senate.
Source: WDRB
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