A western Kentucky legislator is seeking to strengthen safety standards for swimming pools with a pre-filed bill for the 2021 session of the state’s general assembly.
Third District State Representative Randy Bridges wrote the bill in honor of two-year-old Ava Jenkins of Paducah. Jenkins died in 2019 in a drowning accident.
Bridges said uniform regulations on residential swimming pools in the commonwealth don’t currently exist. Cities and counties are responsible for creating standards for swimming pool operations, but Brides said he believes statewide action is needed to prevent future deaths.
“Most people think that, like inground pools requires a fence, above ground pools have certain requirements and actually, in Kentucky, the only state regulations are on commercial swimming pools,” Bridges said.
Bridges said about half the states currently have laws on the books dealing with residential swimming pools. He said he began to understand the need for the law after being contacted by Jenkins’s parents.
“The parents contacted me and they just feel like there ought to be something. The more I’ve looked into it, I believe they’re right,” Bridges said.
The bill requires every residential pool to be enclosed by a barrier at least four feet high on the outside. The barrier could not have any gaps large enough for a child to enter, and the fence must be separate from other fences enclosing the yard as a whole (unless the fence is situated on the perimeter of the swimming pool).
The legislation also calls for all portable swimming pools to be emptied after each use.
View the full text of the pre-filed bill here. The 2021 legislative session begins January 5.
