Current Kentucky law automatically restores the right to vote and the right to hold office for Kentuckians who were convicted of most felonies in Kentucky and have served their terms. But without any rational basis, the law does not restore these rights to residents who were convicted of equivalent qualifying felonies in other states. Kentucky is the only state in the country that categorically denies automatic civil rights restoration to individuals convicted of felonies in other jurisdictions.
The plaintiff in this class action lawsuit, Bryan Barber, represented by Fair Elections Center and Jackson Cooper Law, is suing the state’s governor, Andrew Beshear, on the grounds that this unequal treatment is discriminatory and in violation of Kentucky’s Constitution, which guarantees equal protection under the law.
Plaintiff: Bryan Barber, convicted of felonies in Indiana
Defendant: Kentucky Governor Andrew G. Bashear
Case Status: Initial complaint filed in Jefferson County Circuit Court on January 7, 2026
On December 12, 2019, Kentucky Governor Andrew Beshear issued Executive Order 2019-003, which automatically restored the right to vote for Kentuckians who were convicted of Kentucky felonies that are not on a list of excluded offenses and who have satisfied their sentence of incarceration and any term of supervised release.
However, the executive order only restored the rights of people who were convicted of offenses in Kentucky. Kentuckians who have felony convictions from another state, which are equivalent to Kentucky felonies subject to immediate re-enfranchisement under EO 2019-003, do not have their voting rights automatically restored—they must petition the governor individually for rights restoration, which may or may not be granted at the governor’s sole discretion.
This case makes a claim based on the equal protection clause in the Kentucky Constitution, which ensures that all individuals have the same rights and are treated equally by the government.
On those grounds, we seek equal treatment for Kentuckians convicted of felonies in other jurisdictions who have satisfied and otherwise concluded the terms of their sentences, excluding only those convicted of offenses matching the offenses specifically deemed ineligible by the Governor’s Executive Order. There is no justification for treating groups of disenfranchised people differently based on where they were convicted.
Although the exact number of Kentuckians who have been convicted of felonies in jurisdictions outside the state and are therefore ineligible for automatic rights restoration is difficult to determine, it is believed to be in the thousands.Thousands of individuals with out-of-state convictions relocate to Kentucky each year. Based on yearly data from the Kentucky Department of Corrections and the Interstate Compact for Adult Offender Supervision, Kentucky on average has supervised between 2,000 and 2,500 probationers and parolees with out-of-state convictions each year since 2010. At least 50 of these individuals have submitted rights restoration applications to the governor’s office since 2020.
“Democracy cannot thrive when access to fundamental rights depends on arbitrary distinctions rather than equal justice under the law. Yet, unfortunately, Kentucky’s automatic rights restoration system does just that by punishing its citizens based on the geographic origin of an offense,” said Beauregard Patterson, Counsel at Fair Elections Center. “This system is not only unjust; it is unconstitutional.”
“No person should be defined by the worst parts of their past. Governor Beshear’s actions to reinstate the voting rights of Kentuckians who have served their sentences was a step in the right direction. Unfortunately, the process was flawed and has left Kentuckians who were convicted in another state without a voice in how our Commonwealth and our country are governed,” said Jackson Cooper of Jackson Cooper Law, PLLC. “We are seeking to fix that flaw and ensure that these Kentuckians have their rightful say in who represents us.”