Kentucky House Bill 749

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Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 7)
Status: Introduced on February 25 2026 - 25% progression, died in committee
Action: 2026-03-04 - to Veterans, Military Affairs, & Public Protection (H)
Pending: House Veterans, Military Affairs, and Public Protection Committee
Text: Latest bill text (Introduced) [PDF]

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.

AN ACT relating to the establishment of the Office of Public Defense.

Rep. T.J. Roberts [R]	Rep. Steven Doan [R]	Rep. Josh Calloway [R]	Rep. Ryan Dotson [R]
Rep. John Hodgson [R]	Rep. Thomas Huff [R]	Rep. Billy Wesley [R]

Date	Chamber	Action
2026-03-04	House	to Veterans, Military Affairs, & Public Protection (H)
2026-02-25	House	to Committee on Committees (H)
2026-02-25	House	introduced in House

Type	Source
Summary	https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/26RS/hb749.html
Text	https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/recorddocuments/bill/26RS/hb749/orig_bill.pdf