By: Dustin Humphrey

Kentucky does not currently allow dating partners to seek civil protective orders. Such protections are currently only offered to those who are married, living together, or have children together.

This means a person in an abusive dating relationship does not have access to remedies such as Domestic Violence Orders that may keep the abusive partner away. Kentucky is one of a few states that does not offer these protections to dating partners. This may soon change, however. As of Tuesday, the House Judiciary Committee unanimously approved House Bill 8 and sent it to the House for further action.

If the bill passes, it would create a complete system of civil protections in Kentucky for victims of dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking, no matter the nature of the relationship between perpetrator and victim.

The bill has been shot down in the state Senate in recent years, but with the support of Republican Senate President Robert Stivers, a critic of the bill in the past, this is unlikely to happen again. A recent poll released by the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky has shown that passing such protections for dating partners is extremely popular amongst both parties.

For more information on the bill, go here.

 

 

Dustin joined the SBW&P team in 2010, coming to us from one of the oldest firms in Cincinnati. He earned his undergraduate degree from Bellarmine University, summa cum laude, and his law degree from the Salmon P. Chase College of Law at Northern Kentucky University, where he graduated cum laude. Dustin’s law practice includes personal injury law, medical malpractice law, business law including corporations, LLCs and business planning, real estate law, probate law, estate planning, employment law, and family law.