Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Committee approves coercive-control bill to expand domestic-violence protections; language narrowed to require pattern and specific threats
Summary
House Bill 96 would add "coercive control" to Kentucky's domestic-violence framework, allowing earlier protective orders for patterns of psychological and non-physical abuse; the committee adopted a narrowed substitute and reported the bill 17-1, with debate focused on ensuring the law targets patterns of conduct and avoids overbreadth or abuse.
Representative Stephanie Dietz, sponsor of House Bill 96, told the committee the bill would add coercive control to Kentucky's domestic-violence statute so courts can issue protective orders before abuse escalates to physical violence.
"Coercive control is a pattern of behavior that is used by an abuser to dominate their partner through intimidation, isolation, and psychological manipulation," Representative Stephanie Dietz said, describing examples such as surveillance, controlling finances and restricting access to family and services.
Christie Burch, CEO of ION Center, recounted client cases where…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
