Kentucky legislation · 2026 Regular Session
Kentucky HB749: AN ACT relating to the establishment of the Office of Public Defense.
Status: In committee, March 4, 2026
Create new sections of KRS Chapter 16 to define terms; establish the Office of Public Defense within the Department of Kentucky State Police to acquire and transfer machine guns to qualified persons; establish the duties of the office and its director; require the director or designee to issue a transfer certificate upon transfer of a machine gun to a qualified person; require a qualified person who becomes ineligible to possess a firearm to return a machine gun to the office within 7 days of learning of his or her prohibited status; allow a qualified person to transfer a machine gun to another qualified person; establish the public defense fund; provide civil immunity to the Commonwealth, the office, and the office's director, officers, and employees in the performance of their duties; provide that the Commonwealth, the office, and the office's director, officers, and employees shall not be civilly or criminally liable for acts or omissions of qualified persons; amend KRS 12.020 and 15A.020 to conform.
What the bill says
An act relating to the establishment of the Office of Public Defense.
From the introduced text:
AN ACT relating to the establishment of the Office of Public Defense. WHEREAS, the General Assembly finds and declares that the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution declares that "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed"; and WHEREAS, in District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008), the United States Supreme Court explained that the Second Amendment's prefatory Militia Clause announces the Amendment's purpose and serves a clarifying function as to the Amendment's protections. To that end, the Second Amendment guarantees the people's unrestricted access to arms to repel invasions and suppress insurrections, render large standing armies unnecessary, and resist tyranny; and WHEREAS, the Supreme Court explained that "the people" protected by the Second Amendment "unambiguously refers to all members of the political community, not an unspecified subset," and presumptively extends to "all Americans"; and WHEREAS, the Supreme Court further explained that the original meaning of the term "Arms" used in the Second Amendment includes "weapons of offence, or armour of defence";"any thing that a man wears for his defence, or takes into his hands, or useth in wrath to cast at or strike another"; and at a minimum, "all firearms"; and thus, the Supreme Court explained, "the …
Sponsors
- T.J. Roberts (R, HD-066) · primary sponsor
- Steven Doan (R, HD-069)
- Josh Calloway (R, HD-010)
- Ryan Dotson (R, HD-073)
- John Hodgson (R, HD-036)
- Thomas Huff (R, HD-049)
- Bill Wesley (R, HD-091)
Latest actions
- : to Veterans, Military Affairs, & Public Protection (H)
- : to Committee on Committees (H)
- : introduced in House
Subjects: State Agencies, Police, State, Funds, Firearms And Weapons, Military Affairs And Civil Defense, BRAILSFORD, RONNIE ELIJAH, SR. (N97U3)
Common questions
- What is HB749?
- HB749 is a bill in the Kentucky Legislature (2026 Regular Session): AN ACT relating to the establishment of the Office of Public Defense.
- What does HB749 do?
- In its own words: An act relating to the establishment of the Office of Public Defense.
- What is the status of HB749?
- In committee as of March 4, 2026. Latest action: to Veterans, Military Affairs, & Public Protection (H) (March 4, 2026).
- Who sponsored HB749?
- T.J. Roberts (R, HD-066), with 6 co-sponsors.
- Where is the official record for HB749?
- On the Kentucky Legislature website: https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/26rs/hb749.html
Source: official Kentucky record. Tracked by Delilah, AI for legislation across all 50 states and Congress.