Subcommittee requires agency to revert to prior DOC policy while it reviews AG opinion on gender‑affirming care; hormone therapy for inmates continues under DOC

The Review Subcommittee considered an agency amendment to 501 KAR 6:410 filed by the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet that withdraws a proposed policy on gender‑affirming surgery and hormone treatment and replaces it with the previously effective 2018 version of CPP 14.8 while the cabinet reviews an attorney general opinion.

Leah Boggs, general counsel for the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, told the subcommittee the department withdrew the proposed policy and will develop an amended policy consistent with the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) and the attorney general opinion. Boggs said the department recognizes that certain medical care beyond surgery may be legally required when a health‑care provider determines it is medically necessary for a serious medical need.

Committee members asked whether gender‑affirming surgeries had occurred in Kentucky prisons and whether hormone therapy had been provided. Boggs testified that no gender‑affirming surgery has been provided, but that hormone therapies have been provided for years for a range of medical conditions. She said the department administers pharmaceuticals through a contract with Diamond Pharmacy and that providing an accurate dollar breakdown for those drugs is difficult.

Co‑Chair Lewis asked for counts; Boggs said that as of January 8 there were 12,842 inmates in DOC facilities and 467 inmates were receiving hormone therapy for all medical conditions, and that 67 of those were receiving hormones for gender dysphoria based on an independent endocrinologist’s recommendation that the treatment was a serious medical need. The cabinet said independent medical determinations remain controlling and the department would not substitute its own judgment for a medical professional.

Members asked about communication with legislators and whether DOC staff were prohibited from speaking to lawmakers; the cabinet said legislative requests for information should go through the legislative liaison but that the department does not outright prohibit communications.

The subcommittee approved a staff amendment and an agency amendment (reverting to the 2018 policy) by voice vote without objection and took no deficiency action; the item will proceed to the committee of jurisdiction.

Why it matters: The action preserves the department’s prior written policy while the cabinet and attorney general review legal obligations for providing medical care to incarcerated people; testimony clarified that hormone therapy is being dispensed under medical direction and that no gender‑affirming surgeries have occurred.

Provenance: Topic introduced when the Department of Corrections regulation was called and agency counsel described the amendment; testimony and numeric details appear later in the transcript.