HB461: AN ACT relating to school bus safety.

Legislative Summary

Create new sections of KRS Chapter 67 to define terms; require the use of camera monitoring systems on all school buses by all school districts, and require the enforcement of a civil penalty for stop arm camera violations recorded by a camera monitoring system; set the amount of the civil penalty; provide that the revenue generated from a civil penalty shall be retained by the county; require specific notice for a stop arm camera violation; require a form for a stop arm camera violation notice; establish defenses to a violation; establish procedures for a contest to a violation; require a recipient of a violation to pay or contest the violation within 60 days; allow for suspension of registration for failure to pay a fine; require a county to notify the Transportation Cabinet of the need to release a suspension within one business day of payment; amend KRS 189.990 to increase the maximum fines for failing to stop for a school bus or church bus that is receiving or discharging passengers; amend KRS 189.370 to require traffic in the opposite direction of a school bus to stop for a school bus on highways that are not divided by a raised barrier or unpaved median; amend KRS 64.090 to provide that a sheriff may retain charge and collect a fee pf $50 from every collected civil penalty for a stop arm camera violation enforced by the sheriff's office; EFFECTIVE July 1, 2025.