The civic record
Read. Follow. Verify.Kentucky House Bill 569 establishes an alternative path for requesting special judges via the Attorney General
Last action · March 18, 2026: received in Senate to Committee on Committees (S)Sponsors: Stephanie Dietz and 1 other
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What This Bill Proposed
AN ACT relating to designation of special judges and declaring an emergency.
Litigants and citizens gain an additional administrative channel to request the replacement of a judge in civil cases where impartiality is questioned on legal or constitutional grounds. The mechanism allows affidavits to be submitted anonymously through the Attorney General and potentially under seal if defamatory allegations are present.
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.
Litigants
Litigants gain an additional administrative procedure to challenge a judge's impartiality on legal or constitutional questions through the Attorney General.
Attorney General
The Attorney General is assigned the responsibility of reviewing submitted affidavits for good faith and prima facie arguments, redacting identifying information, and submitting them to the Chief Justice.
Chief Justice
The Chief Justice is required to promptly review facts submitted by the Attorney General to determine whether to designate a special judge.
Key Facts
You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can submit an affidavit challenging a judge's impartiality under this bill?
What happens after the Attorney General receives the affidavit?
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 · passed the House · in the Senate.
Procedural history
7 actions- Mar 18, 2026SenateIntroducedreceived in Senate to Committee on Committees (S)
- Mar 17, 2026HouseFloor3rd reading, passed 75-16 with Floor Amendment (1) and Floor Amendment (2-title)
- Mar 16, 2026Houseposted for passage in the Regular Orders of the Day for Tuesday, March 17 2026
- Mar 12, 2026HouseFloor2nd reading, to Rules floor amendments (1) and (2-title) filed
- Mar 11, 2026Housereported favorably, 1st reading, to Calendar
- Feb 12, 2026HouseCommitteeto Judiciary (H)
Show 1 earlier action
- Feb 5, 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.
Expansion of Special Judge Request Mechanism
The bill expands judicial disqualification avenues by adding an executive branch review step via the Attorney General alongside the traditional circuit clerk channel.
Connected Entities
Sources
apps.legislature.ky.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 65)
- Controversy60Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz30Current news / social attention level
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