Bill to allow the arrests of people protesting the Capitol passes Kentucky House
Lawmakers in the Kentucky House passed a bill Friday morning that would give Kentucky’s legislative leaders the power to order police to arrest protesters who they believe are disrupting their work.
House Bill 399, from Rep. John Blanton, R-Salyersville, was inspired by the behavior of protesters during the House’s deliberation on Senate Bill 150 in 2023. That bill, which outlawed most gender-affirming care for youths, drew massive protests that included loud chants from the gallery and ended in protesters being removed and restrained with zip ties.
The protester bill was passed easily, largely along party lines. A handful of Republicans joined Democrats in voting “no” on the bill. The final vote tally was 68-26.
A similar bill passed the House last year but stalled in the Senate.
The bill would give the House speaker, Senate president, committee chairmen and House and Senate sergeants-at-arms the authority to order the arrests of anyone they believe is guilty of a new criminal offense, “interference with a legislative proceeding.”
What would be the penalty for interference charges?
First-degree interference with a legislative proceeding would be a Class A misdemeanor for a first offense, punishable by up to one year in jail.
A third offense would be a Class D felony, which carries up to five years in prison.
The first-degree charge is defined as someone who “knowingly engages in, conspires to engage in or facilitates another person engaging in disorderly or disruptive conduct in any legislative building; and the conduct disrupts, impedes, or prevents the General Assembly from conducting business.”
Second-degree interference would be a Class B misdemeanor, punishable by up to 90 days in jail. Further offenses would be a Class A misdemeanor.
The second-degree charge is defined as someone who “enters into or remains inside, conspires to enter into or remain inside, or facilitates another person entering into or remaining inside a chamber or gallery of the General Assembly, or another room inside a legislative building that is set aside or designated for the use of the members of the General Assembly; or obstructs or impedes, conspires to obstruct or impede, or facilitates another person obstructing or impeding a legislator, legislative officer, or legislative staff member’s ingress, egress, or movement within a legislative building.”
Bill doesn’t prohibit assembly, amendment says
An amendment from Rep. T.J. Roberts, R-Burlington, clarified that the bill does not prohibit assembly in “traditional public forums” like the Capitol rotunda or the grounds, nor does it bar attendance at legislative meetings. The amendment, which was adopted in a floor vote Friday, also made it harder for protesters to get charged with a felony for first-degree interference; instead of the second offense being a felony charge, it’s now the third offense.
Debate on the floor was largely split on partisan lines. Democrats warned of an encroachment on the protected First Amendment act of protest while Republicans emphasized the need for order to get their work done.
House Minority Floor Leader Pamela Stevenson, D-Louisville, said she found it ironic that the legislature was targeting certain kinds of speech but guns were still allowed in the Capitol.
“I’m more afraid of the guns than I am of the voices – simply being inconvenienced because they’re too loud, simply wanting things to go the way you want them to go,” Stevenson said. “It’s not a reason to go down this pathway of limiting our rights under the United States Constitution.”
She added, in reference to the Senate Bill 150 protesters: “As far as I can tell, those people that got arrested were charged, so we already have rules to handle a disruption.”
Public participation, but with limits
Rep. Jim Gooch, R-Providence, said that he was the longest-serving committee chairman in the House. A former Democrat who flipped Republican when the GOP took the House majority, Gooch has long chaired the House Natural Resources & Energy Committee.
He spoke to the committee testimony aspect of the bill, endorsing the power the bill grants to chairs like himself. Gooch said that he invites public participation, but not without reasonable limits.
“There is nothing in this process that guarantees you the right to come to committee and express your opinions and say whatever you want for however many minutes you want. This process has to operate, and if, for some reason, you feel wrongly that your rights were violated because you did all the other things that you’re allowed to do but you weren’t allowed to speak, and then you can disrupt this process – I’m sorry, that’s not right either,” Gooch said.
While all Democrats who were present voted against the bill, eight Republicans from the party’s informal Liberty wing — a group somewhat influenced by libertarian politics — joined Democrats in voting no.
This story was originally published March 7, 2025 at 12:30 PM.
