Kentucky governor, secretary of state staff up on legislation defending victims of home violence

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky’s Democratic governor and Republican secretary of state teamed up Thursday to shortly implement a brand new state legislation geared toward defending home violence victims from their abusers.

In a state stricken by one of many nation’s highest charges of home violence, the Safe at Home Act strengthens an tackle confidentiality program for victims. It took impact Thursday, and Gov. Andy Beshear and Secretary of State Michael Adams signed emergency rules guiding its implementation.

Their joint effort comes at a time when partisan rancor is intensifying forward of Kentucky’s statewide elections in November. Both Beshear and Adams are looking for second phrases. Adams is supporting Beshear’s challenger, Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron, whereas the governor is backing Adams’ Democratic opponent, former state Rep. Buddy Wheatley.

Those partisan connections have been pushed apart on the governor’s weekly information convention, as Beshear invited Adams to advertise the brand new legislation. The secretary of state mentioned his workplace labored intently with Beshear’s staff on the short implementation of the measure. Adams referred to as it an instance of officers reaching throughout social gathering traces to “solve pressing problems and protect our most vulnerable.”

“I appreciate that good-faith partnership,” Adams mentioned. “It serves Kentuckians well.”

It’s not the primary time Beshear and Adams have teamed up on public coverage. In 2020, they labored collectively on election guidelines designed to maintain voters protected in the course of the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The subsequent 12 months, the governor signed laws backed by Adams that expanded early voting in Kentucky.

Beshear mentioned Thursday that the brand new bipartisan legislation bolsters the state’s response to an necessary public security problem, providing added protections for victims of “these heinous and cowardly acts.”

“We cannot and will not solve this crisis alone,” the governor mentioned. “Let’s work together, everybody looking out for each other.”

The new legislation permits folks fleeing home abuse to protect their new house addresses from public report with out having to acquire a court docket order. It expands an present program that shielded victims’ addresses from voter rolls. The enlargement will masks their addresses on different publicly obtainable authorities data. Victims who signal a sworn assertion can have their addresses shielded from the broader record of data.

They will have the ability to use the Secretary of State’s Office as their tackle on public data instead of their precise tackle. The program is run without charge to contributors.

Republican Sen. Julie Raque Adams was the brand new legislation’s lead sponsor. The measure gained overwhelming assist from the GOP-dominated legislature and was signed by the governor earlier this 12 months.