A major crime bill with significant input from a Northern Kentucky lawmaker is on its way to a vote in the Kentucky Senate – despite opposition from the chairman of the committee that advanced the bill Thursday.
Senate Judiciary committee chair Sen. Whitney Westerfield (R-Hopkinsville) had pushed for the committee to adopt a substitute of House Bill 5 that approached homelessness, enhanced penalties for crimes and certain other provisions differently – including allowing those guilty of “unlawful camping” under the bill to be referred for services before they are cited by police, at least for an initial offense. While some of Westerfield’s proposals were in the substitute the committee adopted Thursday, those weren’t.
Instead, it was an amendment to HB 5 backed by NKY Sen. John Schickel (R-Union) that advanced Thursday.
“This is about street crime.” – Sen. John Schickel
HB 5, as amended by the committee, would criminalize those who camp on public or private property, including parks, roads, and cemeteries not designated for that use, without any referral to services. A first offense would be a violation; each following offense would be a misdemeanor.
Westerfield was the only Republican to vote against HB 5 Thursday in his committee, where the Schickel-backed substitute passed 7-3. Also voting no were two Louisville Democrats: Sen. Minority Floor Leader Gerald Neal and Sen. Karen Berg.
HB 5 was introduced in January at the start of the 2024 legislative session. Louisville Republican Rep. Jared Bauman is the lead sponsor. The bill initially passed the House on Jan. 25 on a 74-22 vote. It would return to the House for final passage if it passes the full Senate.
Most of the bill focuses on violent crime. As it now stands, HB 5 would increase penalties for drug and related offenses tied to the deadly street drug fentanyl, make carjacking a felony crime, ramp up potential jail time for vandalism, and attempt to safeguard police and firefighters and others from serious harm.
One of the most significant changes would create a “three strikes” requirement of life in prison without parole – or the death penalty for capital offenses – for someone convicted of three violent felonies.
“This is about street crime,” Schickel told the committee during a discussion on HB 5 Tuesday. “We put other things in because other people have wanted something in it, but it’s important we keep our focus on what it is about. Homelessness is causing our neighborhoods to spiral down. This isn’t just in Louisville, this is in my home community. When someone carjacks a car and there are not consequences, or someone’s camping out in your yard and there are no consequence, or people are ruining your neighborhood with open drug use – that causes a community to spiral down.That is our first priority as a government and that is the spirit in which I offer this committee sub.”
The homelessness provisions generated the most controversy in committee on Thursday. Some lawmakers – many who tied homelessness to substance use disorder – pointed out that the bill would give cities permission to set aside public “encampments” for homeless persons. Permanent housing for the homeless, funded with any state money, would, however, have to include mental health or substance use treatment.
But homeless advocates testified those provisions aren’t exactly helpful.
George Eklund with the Coalition for the Homeless in Louisville testified to the committee that HB 5 as it stands now “identifies problems and punishments but lacks real lasting solutions to make Kentucky safe.”
Substance use and mental health issues impact about 30% of Kentucky’s homeless population, Eklund said. But many more people, he said, are homeless because of a lack of affordable housing.
“A treatment bed is a clinical setting great for getting people detoxed. What we lack is a continuum of housing options,” said Ecklund. Encampments like those proposed in HB 5 should, he said, “be a measure of last resort – and I don’t think we’re there yet.”
As to the homeless issue, Schickel — a retired career law enforcement officer — has said unwillingness to seek treatment is a big part of the problem. Police who interact with homeless individuals will attest to that, he told the Senate Judiciary committee Tuesday.
“If you talk to any police officer or any police chief, not everyone wants to go into treatment. One of the reasons we have so many homeless people is they don’t want to go into treatment and they’ll have to do it if they go into a homeless shelter,” said Schickel.
Before the committee voted out the bill Thursday, Schickel appeared emotional as he talked about the issue.
“I have people in my immediate family who have experienced this, and we quite simply see it from a different point of view,” he said.
Rebecca Hanchett is the Frankfort correspondent for LINK nky. She can be reached at Rhanchett@linknky.com