ZeroV 2026 Legislative Updates: February 24

Last week got us to the halfway point in the session, and next week we’ll see filing deadlines for both the House and the Senate. Since our last legislative update, we have included updates to several bills in our bill tracker and anticipate further movement on others this week. Read on for the details.

Bill Status Updates

HB 500 is the House's biennial budget bill. Currently, this bill would allocate $5.76 million in the first year and $5.58 million in the second year to ZeroV's state-designated domestic violence programs. Funding set forth in this bill directly impacts ZeroV and its 15 regional domestic violence programs, and its current allocation reflects a small but significant cut from the previous biennial budget.

• 02/23/26: Floor amendment (8) filed

HB 521 revises our current criminal stalking law language to make prosecutions easier, which would increase safety for victims, including survivors who are being stalked by a partner or former partner. Does away with the misdemeanor level of stalking so that all stalking would be a felony, reflecting the seriousness of the crime.

• 02/18/26: Heard in Judiciary and passed

HB 558 gives district courts exclusive jurisdiction over IPOs. While this will not affect protective order hearings in counties without a family court, it will reduce the number of hearings on Family Court dockets, which should result in hearings occurring faster in those counties.

• 02/18/26: Heard in Judiciary and passed

HB 598 creates a new state agency within the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, which would hire, train, and provide guardians ad litem (GALs) for all court actions in which a judge appoints a GAL. GALs appointed for minors in protective order hearings would receive training through this new agency. Ideally, GALs would have a better understanding of domestic violence and would be more quickly available, which would result in less delay in such cases.

• 02/17/26: Assigned to HF&C (Families & Children)

HB 611 updates and refines the domestic violence data-collection statute used in Kentucky's Annual Domestic Violence Data Report. Changes aim to improve data quality for illustrating the impact of intimate partner violence across Kentucky and better align with the way data is actually captured by the state agencies involved in DV data reporting.

• 02/18/26: Assigned to HF&C (Families & Children)

SB 122 would allow survivor-parents who are facing incarceration to ask the court for an alternative sentence, which would allow them to continue to parent their child. A Senate Floor Amendment was filed to allow the court to consider caregiver status in alternative sentencing.

• 02/23/26: Posted for passage in the Regular Orders of the Day for Wednesday, February 25, 2026

You can see all the bills we're monitoring this session, along with brief descriptions of how they affect survivors, in ZeroV’s Bill Tracker. We will update our bill tracker weekly as new bills of interest are filed and relevant amendments are proposed. 

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About ZeroV’s Policy Advocacy 

The well-being of survivors is our top policy priority.  

Throughout the legislative session, ZeroV will advocate for adequate funding for domestic violence services. We will also advocate for policies that support the safety, healing, and well-being of survivors, enabling them to thrive. As a service to our community, we will provide weekly updates throughout the 2026 Legislative Session on the status of proposed legislation impacting survivors of domestic violence.

Thank you for staying informed and getting involved!