[From the following sources: Unofficial Amended Text; Unofficial Legislative History]
AN ACT to promote the uniform application of civil rights laws in the Commonwealth.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky:
Section 1. KRS 344.020 is amended to read as follows:
(1) The general purposes of this chapter are:
(a) To provide for execution within the state of the policies embodied in the Federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 as amended (78 Stat. 241), Title VIII of the Federal Civil Rights Act of 1968 (82 Stat. 81), the Fair Housing Act as amended (42 U.S.C. 360), the Federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (81 Stat. 602), the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-336), and the Civil Rights Act of 1991 as amended (P.L. 102-166, amended by P.L. 102-392);(b) To safeguard all individuals within the state from discrimination because of familial status, race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age forty (40) and over, or because of the person's status as a qualified individual with a disability as defined in KRS 344.010 and KRS 344.030; thereby to protect their interest in personal dignity and freedom from humiliation, to make available to the state their full productive capacities, to secure the state against domestic strife and unrest which would menace its democratic institutions, to preserve the public safety, health, and general welfare, and to further the interest, rights, and privileges of individuals within the state;
(c) To establish as the policy of the Commonwealth the safeguarding of the rights of an individual selling or leasing his primary residence through private sale without the aid of any real estate operator, broker, or salesman and without advertising or public display.
(d) To promote the uniform application of a single, uniform body of civil rights law throughout the Commonwealth.
(2) This chapter shall be construed to further the general purposes stated in this section and the special purposes of the particular provision involved.
(3) [Nothing in] This chapter shall be
construed as prohibiting [indicating
an intent to exclude] local laws on the same subject
matter as [not inconsistent
with] this chapter.
(4) Nothing contained in this chapter shall be deemed to repeal
any other state law [of this
state] relating to discrimination because of familial
status, race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age forty (40)
and over, or because of the person's status as a qualified individual
with a disability as defined in KRS 344.030.
Section 2. KRS 344.300 is amended to read as follows:
To promote the uniform application of this chapter throughout the Commonwealth, no city, county, urban-county, or charter county government or any of the Commonwealth's political subdivisions may occupy any part of the field of the regulation of civil rights. Any local law encroaching upon the field of civil rights law, either by application to the public generally or through regulation of governmental unit itself, shall be void and unenforceable. The Commonwealth's preemption of this subject includes not only the subjects specifically set out in this Chapter, but other local laws directed toward the regulation of an alleged discriminatory practice toward a group or class of persons or the individual members thereof based upon a common trait, characteristic, belief, or practice.
[(1) Cities and counties are authorized to adopt and
enforce ordinances, orders, and resolutions prohibiting all forms of
discrimination, including discrimination on the basis of race, color,
religion, disability, familial status, or national origin, sex, or
age, and to prescribe penalties for violations thereof, such
penalties being in addition to the remedial orders and enforcement
herein authorized.
(2) Cities and counties may adopt and enforce ordinances,
orders, and resolutions prohibiting discrimination; no ordinance,
order or resolution shall attempt to exempt more transactions from
its coverage than are exempted by KRS 344.362 and
344.365].
Section 3. KRS 344.320 is amended to read as follows:
A local commission may be authorized to:
(1) [Receive, initiate, investigate, hear, and
determine charges of violations of ordinances, orders, or resolutions
forbidding discrimination adopted by the city or county.
(2)] Compel the attendance of witnesses and
the production of evidence before it by subpoena issued by the
Circuit Court of the county wherein the local commission is
authorized to act.
(2)[(3)] Issue
remedial orders, after notice and hearing, requiring cessation of
violations.
(3)[(4)] Issue such
affirmative orders as in the judgment of the local commission will
carry out the purposes of this chapter. Affirmative action ordered
may include but is not limited to the remedies enumerated in
subsection (3) of KRS 344.230.
(4)[(5)] Employ an
executive director, attorneys, hearing examiners, clerks and other
employees and agents.
(5)[(6)] Accept
grants, gifts, or bequests, public or private to help finance its
activities.
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HB 485/LM (BR 1787) - J. Fischer, T. Kerr, H. Anderson, B. Ausmus, III, S. Cave, B. Crall, J. Reinhardt, G. Tapp, M. Treesh, C. Walton
AN ACT to promote the uniform application of civil rights laws in the Commonwealth.
Amend various statutes in KRS Chapter 344 relating to the Commonwealth's civil rights laws to provide that the Commonwealth has occupied the field of civil rights law and that local laws on the subject are prohibited.
Jan 27-introduced in HouseJan 28-to Judiciary (H)