FRANKFORT, KY — On Tuesday March 16, 2021, the Kentucky Smart on Crime Coalition released the following statement after the Kentucky Senate approved HB 126, sponsored by Chairman C. Ed Massey, legislation aimed at bringing Kentucky’s felony theft threshold statutes to the national median of states at $1,000.
The bill would also increase the threshold for several fraud-related crimes to $1,000, some of which currently have amounts as low as $100 for the offense to be a felony. HB 126 now heads to the Governor’s desk.
Kentucky's felony theft threshold has failed to keep pace with inflation and modernization of the criminal legal system, remaining unchanged since 2009.
“This is an important step that reform advocates have been working on for many years,” said Kate Shanks, vice president of public affairs for the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce on behalf of the Kentucky Smart on Crime Coalition.
“It is important Kentucky is not focusing an inordinate amount of our corrections budget on low-level offenders. With the seventh-highest incarceration rate in the nation, it is wise to look to other states that have improved their justice systems and at the same time enhanced public safety. Our threshold will now match neighbors like West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, Missouri and Ohio, though it will be lower than some states like Texas, which is set at $2,500.
Felony charges make it very difficult for Kentuckians to make a new start after time served. The Kentucky Chamber is committed to ensuring the state is providing better pathways to be productive citizens,” continued Shanks.
About Kentucky Smart on Crime:
Kentucky Smart on Crime is a broad-based coalition working for common sense justice reforms that proactively address individual and systemic racial disparities and inequities, improve public health, enhance public safety, strengthen communities and promote cost-effective sentencing alternatives. Partner organizations include American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky, Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions, Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, Kentucky Council of Churches, Catholic Conference of Kentucky, Kentucky Association of Sexual Assault Programs, Inc., Kentucky Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Kentucky Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Kentucky Youth Advocates, Volunteers of America Mid-States, Inc., NAACP Kentucky, Kentucky Criminal Justice Forum, and United Way of Kentucky. For more information, visit: kysmartoncrime.com or @kysmartoncrime on Twitter.
