A Kentucky legislator wants the state to create a registry to help keep track of people who have been convicted of domestic violence-related crimes.
At a legislative meeting last week, Republican state Rep. Kim Holloway of Mayfield shared details about a bill she’s proposing that would create a Kentucky domestic violence offender registry for people who are convicted multiple times of these types of crimes. Holloway said the registry is intended to give people another tool to consider when making decisions about their personal safety.
“A person should not need to know which counties to search, how to navigate several court systems, or how to interpret a criminal history in order to discover that a new partner has been repeatedly convicted of domestic violence.” Holloway said.
Under her proposal, people convicted of qualifying domestic violence-related charges would be placed on this registry, which would be accessible to law enforcement. A person’s time on this list would increase with each additional conviction. One qualifying conviction would require five years of registration. Two convictions result in seven years, three convictions being 10 years, and four convictions would require 20 years on the registry.
But the proposed legislation goes beyond this tool, with other measures aimed at protecting the public at large from potential abusers. Holloway’s bill also directs Kentucky’s Justice and Public Safety Cabinet to create a public-facing website that would display a registrant’s name, birthdate, date of conviction, a description of the crimes they committed and a current photograph. Only registrants with two or more domestic violence convictions would appear on this public website.
The bill would also require online dating services serving Kentucky users to conduct criminal background checks and flag profiles of people convicted of involving qualifying domestic violence charges.
Advocates like Christy Stokes told lawmakers that measures like these are needed to take domestic violence seriously and to prevent more Kentuckians from becoming victims of this type of abuse.
“I don't want revenge. I want accountability. I don't want someone else's life destroyed before we take action. I want prevention,” Stokes said.
Estimates from the CDC indicate that around 40% of Kentucky women, and 22% of Kentucky men, will experience intimate partner violence and/or stalking in their lifetimes. According to the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet report from 2025, law enforcement officers filed over 33,000 electronic JC-3 forms that year, which are used to document times police respond to calls of domestic violence, dating violence and abuse. Those calls for assistance led to 8,301 arrests.
While supporters say the registry could provide another layer of protection, others, like Rep. Stephanie Dietz, raised concerns about how the tool could be perceived by the public. Dietz, who is also an attorney practicing family law, said the registry would not include people who have domestic violence offenses (DVOs) issued against them. Those kinds of legal actions are issued in civil court, and don’t represent criminal convictions.
Dietz said she is worried some people will assume the registry is a full list of anyone accused of committing domestic violence.
“I'm concerned that if we tell people it's a DVO registry, is it going to present a false sense of security or hope that somehow you've captured these DVOs?” Dietz said.
Heather Kenson, another domestic violence survivor advocate, said her own experience reporting abuse showed her how difficult it can be for victims to get immediate action. She said a registry could give potential victims information before they find themselves in a similar situation.
“I went to the state police. I said, ‘Here's all the messages. Here's the calls. Everything,’” Kinson said. “They said, ‘Oh, we don't know if we can arrest him.’ So I waited four days before somebody finally said, ‘Oh, yeah, we should have arrested him.’ So a registry will not fix everything or replace enforcement, advocates, counseling, and meaningful consequences. But it can give another woman something I didn't have, which is a warning.”
Holloway filed a similar bill in this year’s General Assembly – but it failed to pass before the legislative session came to a close in April. She filed that measure in remembrance of Stephanie Stacey, a woman who was killed at a Paducah bar last December. Phillip Whitnel, who Stacey was in the process of divorcing at the time of her death, was arrested and charged with murder (domestic violence) and violating a Kentucky EPO/DVO.
The Mayfield representative has filed a bill request to sponsor this legislation when the General Assembly reconvenes in January.
