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Read. Follow. Verify.Kentucky Bill HB 664 allows civil lawsuits against mental health professionals for conversion therapy and extends statutes of limitation
Last action · February 25, 2026: to Judiciary (H)Sponsors: Lisa Willner and 3 others
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What This Bill Proposed
Kentucky HB 664 allows individuals to file civil lawsuits against mental health professionals and supervising entities for conducting . The measure establishes specialized causation standards, allows for economic, noneconomic, and punitive damages, and extends the statute of limitations up to 22 years past the age of majority for minors or 10 years after the last treatment session for adults.
The measure directly alters legal liability for licensed mental health providers and expands the timeframe for filing professional negligence and malpractice claims related to conversion therapy, providing survivors extended legal pathways to seek financial compensation and economic or punitive damages.
- L. Willner is the primary sponsor of House Bill 664 in the Kentucky General Assembly. context
- Major medical and mental health organizations, including the American Psychological Association and American Medical Association, have established professional consensus that conversion therapy practices are ineffective and harmful. context
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.
Mental health professionals
Mental health professionals face civil liability, potential joint and several liability, and extended statutes of limitation for engaging in sexual orientation or gender identity change efforts.
Individuals subjected to conversion therapy
Individuals subjected to sexual orientation or gender identity change efforts gain a specific civil cause of action to recover economic, noneconomic, and punitive damages over extended timeframes.
Supervising entities and employers
Employers and supervising entities of mental health professionals can be held civilly liable for negligent hiring, supervision, or retention if they failed to prevent change efforts.
Key Facts
- HB 664 establishes a civil cause of action for damages arising from sexual orientation or gender identity change efforts against mental health professionals, employers, supervisors, and entities engaging in negligent hiring or supervision.
- Defendants found liable under the act are jointly and severally liable for damages arising from the same harm.
- Plaintiffs may recover economic damages, noneconomic damages, punitive or exemplary damages for willful or malicious conduct, and reasonable attorney fees and costs.
- General causation can be established through expert testimony, scientific literature, or evidence demonstrating change efforts cause psychological injury, without requiring proof of the precise mechanism.
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- Specific causation requires demonstrating that change efforts were, in reasonable medical probability, a substantial factor in causing the plaintiff's psychological injury.
- The time to commence a civil action is the later of 22 years after attaining the age of majority for minors, 10 years after the last treatment session for adults, or 5 years after discovering that psychological injury was caused by change efforts.
- Mental health professionals are defined to include physicians, psychiatrists, psychologists, psychiatric nurses, social workers, marriage and family therapists, professional clinical counselors, pastoral counselors, art therapists, physician assistants, and alcohol and drug counselors.
- Sexual orientation or gender identity change efforts exclude assistance with gender transition, nondirective psychotherapies, neutral counseling, and age-appropriate interventions for unlawful conduct.
- The act declares an emergency, making it effective immediately upon passage and approval by the Governor.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can be sued under this bill?
What is the statute of limitations for filing a lawsuit under this legislation?
Are standard therapy practices like gender transition support affected by this bill?
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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
2 actions- Feb 25, 2026HouseCommitteeto Judiciary (H)
- Feb 18, 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.
Creation of Civil Remedies for Conversion Therapy
The bill establishes a specialized tort framework and relaxes standard general and specific causation burdens specifically for psychological injuries resulting from sexual orientation or gender identity change efforts.
Connected Entities
Sources
apps.legislature.ky.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 85)
- Controversy90Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz75Current news / social attention level
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