Bench & Bar September/October 2026

FEATURE: LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

act under KRS 304.47-020 and, in appropri ate circumstances, criminal mischief in the first degree under KRS 512.020. The legislation also expands the Attorney General’s role in combating insurance fraud. SB 153 grants the Attorney Gen eral concurrent jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute fraudulent insurance acts under KRS 304.47-020 and requires the Attorney General, Commonwealth’s attor neys, and county attorneys to refer reports or investigations of suspected fraudulent insurance acts to the Commissioner of the Department of Insurance unless the matter has previously been reported. 34 Together, these provisions demonstrate the General Assembly’s coordinated use of civil, admin istrative, and criminal enforcement, with the Attorney General serving as a central enforcement authority during periods when consumers are particularly suscepti ble to fraud and abuse from “silver tongued devils” 35 attempting to take advantage of consumers, who after a devastating storm can feel as if they are a “thousand miles from nowhere.” 36 HB 568 House Bill 568 illustrates another approach the General Assembly employed during the 2026 Session to strengthen consumer protection. 37 Public adjusters, who are regulated by KRS Chapter 304, frequently assist homeowners and businesses with insurance claims following natural disas ters and other catastrophic losses. Public adjusters often operate in the aftermath of natural disasters and other catastrophic losses, when consumers may be especially vulnerable to unfair or deceptive practices. Recognizing that heightened risk, HB 568 provides that any violation of public adjuster requirements, conduct standards, fiduciary obligations, or fee limitations is a per se unfair, false, misleading, or deceptive act under KCPA. 38 HB 568 provides the Attorney General with “[a]ll of the remedies, powers, and duties” provided to him under KCPA to pursue vio lations of public adjuster standards. 39 The Attorney General may investigate alleged misconduct, seek injunctive relief, obtain restitution for affected consumers, and seek civil penalties where appropriate. Rather

than creating a separate enforcement mech anism, the General Assembly incorporated public adjuster regulation into KCPA’s exist ing enforcement framework, reinforcing the Act’s role as the foundation of Kentucky’s consumer protection regime. HB 692 The Kentucky Consumer Data Protection Act (“KCDPA”) governs how companies collect, use, and process Kentuckians’ per sonal data and grants consumers several rights with respect to that data. 40 These rights include the ability to opt out of the processing of personal data for targeted advertising, the sale of personal data, and certain forms of profiling that produce legal or similarly significant effects. 41 Further, KCDPA expressly prohibits the processing of sensitive personal information without the consumer’s consent. 42 The scope of KCDPA was expanded by the passage of HB 692. Beginning on July 1, 2027, KCDPA will classify information collected through automatic content rec ognition (“ACR”) technology on Smart TVs as sensitive data, requiring businesses to obtain consumers’ explicit consent before collecting or processing such information. 43 ACR uses software to collect “viewing data points” about consumers’ viewing habits, including IP addresses, ZIP codes, geolo cation data, and information from devices connected to the same network as the tele vision. 44 Companies use this data to build and sell consumer profiles to advertisers and media providers, who then use them to deliver highly targeted advertising. 45 To paraphrase Charlie Rich, what used to happen behind closed doors, is now watched by the screen, and the amendments to KCDPA are designed to ensure that con sumer privacy remains protected. HB 692 will close a critical gap in Kentucky’s data privacy framework by classifying ACR data as sensitive under KCDPA, thereby ensuring that Kentuckians retain control over their personal data. CONCLUSION More than 50 years after its enactment, the Kentucky Consumer Protection Act remains the cornerstone of the Common wealth’s consumer protection framework.

Although markets, technology, and business practices have evolved considerably since 1972, the General Assembly has consis tently relied upon KCPA’s broad remedial principles and the Attorney General’s public enforcement authority to protect Kentucky consumers from unfair and deceptive practices. The legislation enacted during the 2026 Regular Session reflects that continuing evolution. House Bill 869 reinforces KCPA’s core enforcement framework by clarifying the assessment of civil penalties for repeated and systemic misconduct. Senate Bill 153 and House Bill 568 extend the Attorney General’s enforcement authority into areas where consumers are particularly vul nerable following natural disasters, while House Bill 692 demonstrates the General Assembly’s willingness to adapt Kentucky’s consumer protection laws to emerging tech nologies and evolving privacy concerns. Considered together, these enactments illustrate the General Assembly’s continuing practice of building upon the Act’s estab lished foundation through carefully tailored statutory protections designed to address modern consumer risks. That legislative approach reflects an endur ing principle of sound public enforcement. Effective consumer protection requires laws that are sufficiently flexible to respond to new forms of misconduct while providing remedies proportionate to the nature, per sistence, and scope of the violation. As the General Assembly continues to confront emerging challenges, whether arising from technological innovation, disaster recov ery, or increasingly complex commercial markets, the Attorney General will remain central to carrying those protections into effect. As Shakespeare observed in Measure for Measure , “The law hath not been dead, though it hath slept.” Kentucky’s consumer protection laws reflect that same princi ple. They have continued to evolve with changing markets, technologies, and con sumer risks, ensuring the Commonwealth’s enforcement framework remains capable of addressing new forms of misconduct while preserving the flexibility that has defined KCPA for more than 50 years.

16 september/october 2026