By C1 Staff
FRANKFORT, Ky. — New legislation that would let voters decide to make it easier for convicted felons to have their voting rights restored has been pre-filed for consideration in the 2015 legislative session.
BG Daily News reports that several bills with similar structure would place a constitutional amendment on the ballot letting voters decide if they want to allow felons to automatically regain the right to vote after the end of their sentence, parole and probation, with the exception of some offenses.
Those exceptions include intentional killing or sexual offenses.
Currently, felons in Kentucky are given an application to have their voting rights restored as part of a release packet upon their release from incarceration. They can also get an application from a parole officer, online or by contacting the Department of Corrections to have a copy mailed to them.
Those applications are first submitted to the DOC, where they are checked for accuracy. Then they are sent to the commonwealth’s attorney in the county either where the person lives or where the crime was committed.
The commonwealth’s attorney has the option to make a statement on individual applications before they are submitted to the governor’s office, where an ultimate decision is made on whether the application is approved.