HB529 establishes Kentucky Parole Board 4-year terms
Summary
Kentucky HB529 was signed into law on April 7, 2026, amending KRS 439.320 to establish a standard 4-year term for Parole Board members and allowing the Governor to extend terms by up to 1 year to prevent multiple expirations in the same calendar year. The bill also authorizes the board to use panels of 2 or more members for parole and final parole revocation hearings, and changes parole review eligibility under KRS 439.340 to 180 or more days to serve.
What changed
HB529 amends KRS 439.320 to establish a uniform 4-year term for all Parole Board members, replacing any prior ad hoc appointment arrangements. The bill grants the Governor discretionary authority to extend any term by up to 1 year when term expirations would otherwise cause more than 2 positions to expire in the same calendar year. Additionally, the board is now explicitly authorized to convene panels of 2 or more members for parole hearings and final parole revocation proceedings. A parallel amendment to KRS 439.340 updates parole review eligibility from the prior threshold to 180 or more days to serve.
Affected parties include Parole Board members whose appointment terms are now formally defined, state correctional authorities who must administer parole eligibility calculations under the revised 180-day threshold, and parole hearing participants who may appear before panel configurations rather than the full board. The bill passed with unanimous legislative support in both chambers and was signed as an emergency act, indicating immediate implementation is expected.
What to do next
- Kentucky Parole Board should update internal procedures to reflect new 4-year member term requirements
- Parole Board should implement the panel hearing format for parole and final parole revocation hearings as authorized
- State should adjust parole eligibility calculations to align with the 180-day review threshold
Source document (simplified)
ChangeBridge / Kentucky / HB529 Signed by Governor HB529 House Bill Signed by Governor 2026-04-07
AN ACT relating to the Parole Board and declaring an emergency.
Amend KRS 439.320 to establish a term of 4 years for members of the Parole Board; allow the Governor to extend a term not more than 1 year if the expiration of the term causes more than 2 terms to expire in the same calendar year; allow the board to utilize panels of 2 or more members for parole and final parole revocation hearings; amend KRS 439.340 to change the time for parole review eligibility to 180 or more days to serve.
Bill Details
State Kentucky
Session 2026 Regular Session
Chamber House
Official Source apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/26RS/hb529....
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Sponsors
Daniel Elliott (Rep - R) Jason Nemes (Rep - R) George Brown (Rep - D)
Action History
2026-04-07 H signed by Governor 2026-03-26 H delivered to Governor 2026-03-26 H enrolled, signed by President of the Senate 2026-03-26 H enrolled, signed by Speaker of the House 2026-03-26 H received in House 2026-03-25 S 3rd reading, passed 38-0 2026-03-24 S passed over and retained in the Consent Orders of the Day 2026-03-20 S posted for passage in the Consent Orders of the Day for Tuesday, March 24 2026 2026-03-13 S 2nd reading, to Rules as a consent bill 2026-03-12 S reported favorably, 1st reading, to Consent Calendar 2026-03-11 S to Judiciary (S) 2026-02-19 S to Committee on Committees (S) 2026-02-19 S received in Senate 2026-02-18 H 3rd reading, passed 99-0 with Committee Substitute (1), Floor Amendment (1) and Committee Amendment (1-title) 2026-02-13 H floor amendment (1) filed to Committee Substitute 2026-02-12 H posted for passage in the Regular Orders of the Day for Friday, February 13 2026 2026-02-12 H 2nd reading, to Rules 2026-02-11 H reported favorably, 1st reading, to Calendar with Committee Substitute (1) and Committee Amendment (1-title) 2026-02-06 H to Judiciary (H) 2026-01-30 H to Committee on Committees (H) 2026-01-30 H introduced in House
Votes
2026-02-18 House: Veto Override RCS# 107 Yea: 99 Nay: 0 2026-03-25 Senate: Third Reading RSN# 4010 Yea: 38 Nay: 0
Committee Referrals
2026-01-30 H Committee On Committees 2026-02-06 H Judiciary 2026-02-12 H Rules 2026-02-19 S Committee on Committees 2026-03-11 S Judiciary 2026-03-13 S Rules
Amendments
0000-00-00 House Committee Substitute 0000-00-00 House Committee Amendment 0000-00-00 House Floor Amendment
Bill Text Versions
0000-00-00 Introduced 0000-00-00 Engrossed
Subjects
Boards and Commissions Governor Probation and Parole Legislative data powered by LegiScan (CC BY 4.0)
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