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Read. Follow. Verify.Kentucky creates Department of Family Representation and Advocacy to oversee appointed counsel and guardians ad litem
Last action · April 15, 2026: recommitted to Appropriations & Revenue (H)Sponsor: Stephanie Dietz
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What This Bill Proposed
Kentucky establishes the independent Department of Family Representation and Advocacy within the executive branch, attached administratively to the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, to manage legal representation and support services for eligible children and adults in dependency, neglect, abuse, and related proceedings. The measure creates a governing commission, establishes a dedicated fund, outlines regional offices aligned with Supreme Court districts, and shifts various court-appointed counsel and responsibilities to the new department beginning July 1, 2027.
The measure restructures how legal representation is provided for vulnerable children and parents across civil, family, and juvenile court proceedings, centralizing oversight in a new state agency and establishing a dedicated funding trust starting July 1, 2027.
Who It Would Have Affected
Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Eligible clients and child welfare participants
Attorneys and legal service providers
Justice and Public Safety Cabinet
The cabinet houses the department for administrative purposes, processes warrants for salaries and expenses, and submits annual reports to the Legislative Research Commission.
Key Facts
- Establishes the Department of Family Representation and Advocacy as an independent agency in the executive branch, attached administratively to the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet.
- Creates the Family Representation and Advocacy Commission to recommend director nominees, set departmental policies, adopt annual budgets, and provide public oversight.
- Requires the department to establish at least seven regional offices aligning with Kentucky Supreme Court districts, along with an appellate division led by a chief appellate attorney.
- Establishes the family representation and advocacy fund in the State Treasury as a trust and agency account consisting of state appropriations, gifts, grants, and federal funds (such as Title IV-E).
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- Directs that unexpended money in the advocacy fund at the end of a fiscal year shall not lapse but carry forward.
- Requires the requesting court to find necessity when requesting a guardian ad litem or court-appointed counsel, prompting the local department office to make an immediate appointment.
- Requires the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet to submit an annual report by December 31 to the Legislative Research Commission detailing contract counts, expenditures, case categories, and maximum fee awards.
- Exempts department employees and the director from the state merit system, KRS 12.210, and Kentucky's public employee retirement systems.
- Sets qualifications for the department director, requiring a law license (or acquisition within one year), at least 10 years of experience in dependency, neglect, and abuse cases, and executive experience.
- Allows existing guardians ad litem and appointed counsel appointed prior to July 1, 2027, to continue representing clients until released by the court.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the purpose of the Department of Family Representation and Advocacy?
Who serves on the Family Representation and Advocacy Commission?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · in House committee.
Procedural history
7 actions- Apr 15, 2026HouseCommitteerecommitted to Appropriations & Revenue (H)
- Mar 26, 2026Housetaken from the Orders of the Day returned to Rules
- Mar 4, 2026Houseposted for passage in the Regular Orders of the Day for Thursday, March 05 2026
- Feb 27, 2026HouseFloor2nd reading, to Rules
- Feb 26, 2026Housereported favorably, 1st reading, to Calendar with Committee Substitute (1)
- Feb 17, 2026HouseCommitteeto Families & Children (H)
Show 1 earlier action
- Feb 9, 2026HouseIntroducedintroduced in House to Committee on Committees (H)
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Centralization of Child Advocacy Legal Services
The legislation shifts responsibilities for appointing and funding guardians ad litem and court-appointed counsel away from fragmented court mechanisms into a newly created, independent executive branch department.
Connected Entities
Sources
apps.legislature.ky.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 85)
- Controversy25Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz35Current news / social attention level
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