Kentucky House of Representatives

Kentucky House of Representatives
Kentucky House of Representatives
Kentucky General Assembly
Type
Type	Lower house
Term limits	None
History
New session started	January 5, 2021
Leadership
Speaker	David Osborne (R) ; since January 8, 2019
Speaker Pro Tempore	David Meade (R) ; since January 8, 2019
Majority Leader	Steven Rudy (R) ; since January 5, 2021
Minority Leader	Derrick Graham (D) ; since January 3, 2023
Structure
Seats	100
Political groups	Majority Republican (80); Minority Democratic (20);
Length of term	2 years
Authority	The Legislative Department, Section 29, Kentucky Constitution
Salary	$186.73/day + per diem
Elections
Last election	November 8, 2022; (100 seats)
Next election	November 5, 2024; (100 seats)
Redistricting	Legislative Control
Meeting place
	House of Representatives Chamber; Kentucky State Capitol; Frankfort, Kentucky
Website
	Kentucky Legislative Research Commission

The Kentucky House of Representatives is the lower house of the Kentucky General Assembly. It is composed of 100 Representatives elected from single-member districts throughout the Commonwealth. Not more than two counties can be joined to form a House district, except when necessary to preserve the principle of equal representation.^[1] Representatives are elected to two-year terms with no term limits. The Kentucky House of Representatives convenes at the State Capitol in Frankfort.

History[edit]

The first meeting of the Kentucky House of Representatives was in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1792, shortly after statehood. During the first legislative session, legislators chose Frankfort to be the permanent state capital.

After women gained suffrage in Kentucky, Mary Elliott Flanery was elected as the first female member of the Kentucky House of Representatives. She took her seat in January 1922, and was the first woman elected to a Southern state legislature.^[2]

In 2017, the Republicans became the majority party in the House.^[3]^[4] They now hold a four-fifths supermajority in the chamber.

Powers and legislative process[edit]

Section 47 of the Constitution of Kentucky stipulates that all bills for raising revenue must originate in the state House of Representatives.

Membership[edit]

Current composition[edit]

Affiliation	Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)		Total

	Republican	Democratic		Vacant
Previous Legislature (2015-2016)	47	53	100	0

Previous Legislature (2017-2018)	63	37	100	0

Previous Legislature (2019-2020)	61	39	100	0

Begin 2021	75	25	100	0
Begin 2023	80	20	100	0
Latest voting share	80%	20%

Terms and qualifications[edit]

According to Section 32 of the Kentucky Constitution, a state representative must: be a citizen of Kentucky, be at least 24 years old at the time of election, have resided in the state at least 2 years and the district at least 1 year prior to election. Per section 30 of the Kentucky Constitution, representatives are elected every two years in the November following a regular session of the General Assembly.

Leadership[edit]

The speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives is the chief presiding officer of the Kentucky House. The speaker's official duties include maintaining order in the House, recognizing members during debate, appointing committee chairs and determining the composition of committees, and determining which committee has jurisdiction over which bill. Traditionally, the speaker has also served as chair of the Rules Committee and the Committee on Committees.

When the speaker is absent from the floor or otherwise unavailable, the speaker pro tempore fills in as the chief presiding officer of the House.

In addition to the speaker and speaker pro tem, each party caucus elects a floor leader, a whip, and caucus chair.

Leaders[edit]

Position	Name	Party	Residence	District
Speaker of the House	David Osborne	Republican	Prospect	59
Speaker Pro Tempore	David Meade	Republican	Stanford	80
Majority Floor Leader	Steven Rudy	Republican	Paducah	1
Majority Whip	Jason Nemes	Republican	Louisville	33
Majority Caucus Chair	Suzanne Miles	Republican	Owensboro	7
Minority Floor Leader	Derrick Graham	Democratic	Frankfort	57
Minority Whip	Rachel Roberts	Democratic	Newport	67
Minority Caucus Chair	Cherlynn Stevenson	Democratic	Lexington	88

List of current representatives[edit]

District	Name	Party	Since	Residence	Counties represented
1	Steven Rudy	Republican	2005	Paducah	Ballard, Carlisle, Fulton, Hickman, McCracken
2	Richard Heath	Republican	2012	Mayfield	Graves, McCracken
3	Randy Bridges	Republican	2019	Paducah	McCracken
4	Lynn Bechler	Republican	2013	Marion	Caldwell, Christian, Crittenden, Livingston
5	Mary Beth Imes	Republican	2021	Murray	Calloway, Trigg
6	Chris Freeland	Republican	2019	Benton	Lyon, Marshall, McCracken
7	Suzanne Miles	Republican	2014	Owensboro	Daviess, Henderson, Union
8	Walker Thomas	Republican	2017	Hopkinsville	Daviess, Trigg
9	Myron Dossett	Republican	2007	Pembroke	Christian, Hopkins
10	Josh Calloway	Republican	2021	Irvington	Breckinridge, Hancock, Hardin
11	Jonathan Dixon	Republican	2021	Corydon	Daviess, Henderson
12	Jim Gooch	Republican	1995	Providence	Daviess, Hopkins, McLean, Webster
13	DJ Johnson	Republican	2021	Owensboro	Daviess
14	Scott Lewis	Republican	2019	Hartford	Daviess, Ohio
15	Melinda Gibbons Prunty	Republican	2017	Belton	Hopkins, Muhlenberg
16	Jason Petrie	Republican	2017	Elkton	Logan, Todd, Warren
17	Steve Sheldon	Republican	2019	Bowling Green	Butler, Warren
18	Samara Heavrin	Republican	2019	Leitchfield	Grayson, Hardin
19	Michael Meredith	Republican	2011	Oakland	Edmonson, Warren
20	Patti Minter	Democratic	2019	Bowling Green	Warren
21	Bart Rowland	Republican	2012	Tompkinsville	Hardin, Hart, Metcalfe, Monroe
22	Shawn McPherson	Republican	2021	Scottsville	Allen, Simpson, Warren
23	Steve Riley	Republican	2017	Glasgow	Barren, Warren
24	Brandon Reed	Republican	2017	Hodgenville	Green, LaRue, Marion
25	Jim DuPlessis	Republican	2015	Elizabethtown	Hardin
26	Russell Webber	Republican	2013	Shepherdsville	Bullitt, Hardin
27	Nancy Tate	Republican	2019	Brandenburg	Hardin, Meade
28	Charles Miller	Democratic	1998	Louisville	Jefferson
29	Kevin Bratcher	Republican	1997	Louisville	Jefferson
30	Tom Burch	Democratic	1978	Louisville	Jefferson
31	Josie Raymond	Democratic	2019	Louisville	Jefferson
32	Tina Bojanowski	Democratic	2019	Louisville	Jefferson
33	Jason Nemes	Republican	2017	Louisville	Jefferson, Oldham
34	Mary Lou Marzian	Democratic	1995	Louisville	Jefferson
35	Lisa Willner	Democratic	2019	Louisville	Jefferson
36	Jerry T. Miller	Republican	2015	Louisville	Jefferson, Oldham
37	Jeffery Donohue	Democratic	2013	Fairdale	Jefferson
38	McKenzie Cantrell	Democratic	2017	Louisville	Jefferson
39	Matt Lockett	Republican	2021	Nicholasville	Fayette, Jessamine
40	Nima Kulkarni	Democratic	2019	Louisville	Jefferson
41	Attica Scott	Democratic	2017	Louisville	Jefferson
42	Vacant since December 17, 2021.				Jefferson
43	Pamela Stevenson	Democratic	2021	Louisville	Jefferson
44	Joni Jenkins	Democratic	1995	Shively	Jefferson
45	Killian Timoney	Republican	2021	Lexington	Fayette
46	Al Gentry	Democratic	2017	Louisville	Jefferson
47	Felicia Rabourn	Republican	2021	Turners Station	Carroll, Gallatin, Henry, Trimble
48	Ken Fleming	Republican	2021	Louisville	Jefferson, Oldham
49	Thomas Huff	Republican	2019	Shepherdsville	Bullitt
50	Chad McCoy	Republican	2017	Bardstown	Nelson
51	Michael Pollock	Republican	2021	Campbellsville	Adair, Taylor
52	Ken Upchurch	Republican	2013	Monticello	McCreary, Pulaski, Wayne
53	James Tipton	Republican	2015	Taylorsville	Anderson, Bullitt, Spencer
54	Daniel Elliott	Republican	2016	Danville	Boyle, Casey
55	Kim King	Republican	2011	Harrodsburg	Jessamine, Mercer, Washington
56	Daniel Fister	Republican	2021	Versailles	Fayette, Franklin, Woodford
57	Derrick Graham	Democratic	2003	Frankfort	Franklin
58	Jennifer Decker	Republican	2021	Waddy	Shelby
59	David Osborne	Republican	2005	Prospect	Oldham
60	Sal Santoro	Republican	2007	Florence	Boone
61	Savannah Maddox	Republican	2019	Dry Ridge	Boone, Grant, Kenton, Scott
62	Phillip Pratt	Republican	2017	Georgetown	Fayette, Owen, Scott
63	Kim Banta	Republican	2019	Fort Mitchell	Boone, Kenton
64	Kimberly Poore Moser	Republican	2017	Taylor Mill	Campbell, Kenton
65	Charles "Buddy" Wheatley	Democratic	2019	Covington	Kenton
66	C. Ed Massey	Republican	2019	Hebron	Boone
67	Rachel Roberts	Democratic	2020	Newport	Campbell
68	Joseph Fischer	Republican	1999	Fort Thomas	Campbell
69	Adam Koenig	Republican	2007	Erlanger	Boone, Kenton
70	William Lawrence	Republican	2021	Maysville	Bracken, Fleming, Mason, Robertson
71	Josh Bray	Republican	2021	Mount Vernon	Garrard, Madison, Rockcastle
72	Matthew Koch	Republican	2019	Paris	Bath, Bourbon, Fayette, Nicholas
73	Ryan Dotson	Republican	2021	Winchester	Clark, Madison
74	David Hale	Republican	2015	Wellington	Menifee, Montgomery, Powell
75	Kelly Flood	Democratic	2009	Lexington	Fayette
76	Ruth Ann Palumbo	Democratic	1991	Lexington	Fayette
77	George Brown Jr.	Democratic	2015	Lexington	Fayette
78	Mark Hart	Republican	2017	Falmouth	Harrison, Pendleton, Scott
79	Chad Aull	Democratic	2023	Lexington	Fayette
80	David Meade	Republican	2013	Stanford	Lincoln, Pulaski
81	Deanna Frazier	Republican	2019	Richmond	Madison
82	Regina Bunch	Republican	2012	Williamsburg	Laurel, Whitley
83	Josh Branscum	Republican	2021	Russell Springs	Clinton, Cumberland, Pulaski, Russell
84	Chris Fugate	Republican	2017	Chavies	Harlan, Perry
85	Shane Baker	Republican	2021	Somerset	Laurel, Pulaski
86	Tom Smith	Republican	2021	Corbin	Knox, Laurel
87	Adam Bowling	Republican	2019	Middlesboro	Bell, Harlan
88	Cherlynn Stevenson	Democratic	2019	Lexington	Fayette
89	Timmy Truett	Republican	2021	McKee	Jackson, Laurel, Madison
90	Derek Lewis	Republican	2019	London	Daviess, Ohio
91	Billy Wesley	Republican	2021	Jackson	Breathitt, Estill, Lee, Madison, Owsley
92	John Blanton	Republican	2017	Salyersville	Knott, Magoffin, Pike
93	Norma Kirk-McCormick	Republican	2021	Inez	Martin, Pike
94	Angie Hatton	Democratic	2017	Whitesburg	Letcher, Pike
95	Ashley Tackett Laferty	Democratic	2019	Martin	Floyd, Pike
96	Patrick Flannery	Republican	2021	Olive Hill	Carter, Lawrence
97	Bobby McCool	Republican	2019	Van Lear	Johnson, Morgan, Wolfe
98	Danny Bentley	Republican	2017	Russell	Boyd, Greenup
99	Richard White	Republican	2020	Morehead	Elliott, Lewis, Rowan
100	Scott Sharp	Republican	2021	Ashland	Boyd

Past composition of the House of Representatives[edit]

References[edit]

^ Ireland, Robert M. (2011). The Kentucky State Constitution. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 63–64. ISBN 978-0-19-987781-2. OCLC 871172867.
^ Powers, James C. (1992). John E. Kleber (ed.). The Kentucky Encyclopedia. Lexington, Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky. pp. 323–324. ISBN 0-8131-1772-0. Retrieved March 11, 2010.
^ Gerth, Joseph (November 8, 2015). "Ky. Dems guard against efforts to flip House". Courier-Journal. Retrieved January 6, 2016.
^ Warren, Michael (November 30, 2016). "Democrats Lose a Southern Holdout". The Weekly Standard. Retrieved December 14, 2016.

External links[edit]

Legislative Research Commission

Coordinates: 38°11′12.1″N 84°52′29.4″W / 38.186694°N 84.874833°W / 38.186694; -84.874833

[1] Ireland, Robert M. (2011). The Kentucky State Constitution. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 63–64. ISBN 978-0-19-987781-2. OCLC 871172867.

[kyencyclopedia-2] Powers, James C. (1992). John E. Kleber (ed.). The Kentucky Encyclopedia. Lexington, Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky. pp. 323–324. ISBN 0-8131-1772-0. Retrieved March 11, 2010.

[3] Gerth, Joseph (November 8, 2015). "Ky. Dems guard against efforts to flip House". Courier-Journal. Retrieved January 6, 2016.

[4] Warren, Michael (November 30, 2016). "Democrats Lose a Southern Holdout". The Weekly Standard. Retrieved December 14, 2016.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

v t e Members of the Kentucky House of Representatives
Speaker David Osborne (R) Speaker pro tempore David Meade (R) Majority Leader Steven Rudy (R) Minority Leader Joni Jenkins (D)
▌Steven Rudy (R) ▌Richard Heath (R) ▌Randy Bridges (R) ▌Lynn Bechler (R) ▌Larry Elkins (R) ▌Chris Freeland (R) ▌Suzanne Miles (R) ▌Walker Thomas (R) ▌Myron Dossett (R) ▌Josh Calloway (R) ▌Jonathan Dixon (R) ▌Jim Gooch (R) ▌DJ Johnson (R) ▌Scott Lewis (R) ▌Melinda Gibbons Prunty (R) ▌Jason Petrie (R) ▌Steve Sheldon (R) ▌Samara Heavrin (R) ▌Michael Meredith (R) ▌Patti Minter (D) ▌Bart Rowland (R) ▌Shawn McPherson (R) ▌Steve Riley (R) ▌Brandon Reed (R) ▌Jim DuPlessis (R) ▌Russell Webber (R) ▌Nancy Tate (R) ▌Charles Miller (D) ▌Kevin Bratcher (R) ▌Tom Burch (D) ▌Josie Raymond (D) ▌Tina Bojanowski (D) ▌Jason Nemes (R) ▌Mary Lou Marzian (D) ▌Lisa Willner (D) ▌Jerry T. Miller (R) ▌Jeffery Donohue (D) ▌McKenzie Cantrell (D) ▌Matt Lockett (R) ▌Nima Kulkarni (D) ▌Attica Scott (D) ▌Keturah Herron (D) ▌Pamela Stevenson (D) ▌Joni Jenkins (D) ▌Killian Timoney (R) ▌Al Gentry (D) ▌Felicia Rabourn (R) ▌Ken Fleming (R) ▌Thomas Huff (R) ▌Chad McCoy (R) ▌Michael Pollock (R) ▌Ken Upchurch (R) ▌James Tipton (R) ▌Daniel Elliott (R) ▌Kim King (R) ▌Daniel Fister (R) ▌Derrick Graham (D) ▌Jennifer Decker (R) ▌David Osborne (R) ▌Sal Santoro (R) ▌Savannah Maddox (R) ▌Phillip Pratt (R) ▌Kim Banta (R) ▌Kimberly Poore Moser (R) ▌Buddy Wheatley (D) ▌Ed Massey (R) ▌Rachel Roberts (D) ▌Joseph Fischer (R) ▌Adam Koenig (R) ▌John Sims Jr. (D) ▌Travis Brenda (R) ▌Matthew Koch (R) ▌Les Yates (R) ▌David Hale (R) ▌Kelly Flood (D) ▌Ruth Ann Palumbo (D) ▌George A. Brown Jr. (D) ▌Mark Hart (R) ▌Susan Westrom (D) ▌David Meade (R) ▌Deanna Frazier (R) ▌Regina Bunch (R) ▌Josh Branscum (R) ▌Chris Fugate (R) ▌Shane Baker (R) ▌Jim Stewart (R) ▌Adam Bowling (R) ▌Cherlynn Stevenson (D) ▌Timmy Truett (R) ▌Derek Lewis (R) ▌Billy Wesley (R) ▌John Blanton (R) ▌Chris Harris (D) ▌Angie Hatton (D) ▌Ashley Tackett Laferty (D) ▌Patrick Flannery (R) ▌Bobby McCool (R) ▌Danny Bentley (R) ▌Richard White (R) ▌Terri Branham Clark (D)
▌Republican (75) ▌Democratic (25) Kentucky General Assembly Kentucky House of Representatives Kentucky Senate

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Legislative elections	2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
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