FRANKFORT, Ky. (Aug. 26, 2025) — A proposal for a constitutional amendment to restore voting rights to convicted felons in Kentucky may be considered during the 2026 legislative session.
Sen. Jimmy Higdon (R-Lebanon) and Sen. Keturah Herron (D-Louisville) presented different ideas about the concept to the Interim Joint Committee on Local Government and discussed why the legislature should take up the issue.
During a committee meeting on Tuesday, Higdon noted that, if not for COVID, he believes the proposal would have already been adopted in 2020.
“We passed my bill out of the Senate,” Higdon said. “It went to the House; I believe it would have passed, but we cut the session short because of COVID, and it did not pass.”
Herron said she worked on restoring voting rights as an advocate and pledged to continue that work as an elected official. She added that, if the proposal wins approval, some felons would still spend a long time without the right to vote.
“If somebody is convicted of something like a murder, they do 15 to 20 plus years, they get out and they still have to be on probation. This would say that the person would have to get off probation to be able to vote. So you’re still looking at another 5 to 15 years before that person would be able to vote,” she said.
Currently in Kentucky, non-violent felons who have satisfied their term of supervised release and/or sentence of incarceration have the right to vote through an executive order signed in 2019. Herron said the nature of this has the potential to create some complexities going forward.
“I do know an individual who at 19 was convicted of a felony,” she said. “They did two years and 13 on probation. They finished that 13 years without any other offenses committed, and they were not able to vote until the executive order that the governor did. If it went away, that person would not be able to vote.”
Rep. Mark Hart (R-Falmouth) had a question regarding the scope of the proposal and what rights it was seeking to restore.
“Is your all’s constitutional amendment just pertaining to voting rights, or is it pertaining to other rights as well,” Hart asked.
“This constitutional amendment is for restoration of voting rights.” Higdon answered. “That is our goal. It does not allow you to run for office.”
Sen. Greg Elkins (R-Winchester) asked Herron whether a constitutional amendment was the best way to restore felons’ voting rights.
“Could you achieve the same thing through automatic expungement or something of that nature,” Elkins asked.
“That is a great question,” Herron responded. “I want to be very clear. Expungement and voting rights are two different things. Voting rights are in the constitution and expungement is not. They are two different processes that do two different things.”
Rep. George Brown Jr. (D-Lexington) said it’s only fair that people who have completed their sentence and paid restitution be allowed to vote.
“We are one of three states that do not do that, so I think it’s time,” he said. “It’s timely, and it’s something that needs to be done of behalf of the citizens of the commonwealth.”
The Kentucky General Assembly cannot act on legislation until the 2026 legislative session begins on Jan. 6. For more information, visit legislature.ky.gov.
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“Capitol Update” is a non-partisan publication of the Legislative Research Commission
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