Family’s story helps push fentanyl bill through House committee

Measure would increase required prison time for fentanyl distributors

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WTVQ) – In Wednesday’s meeting of the House Judiciary Committee, Representative Chris Fugate’s, R-Chavies, HB 215, also known as Dalton’s Law, passed 14 yes votes and 3 no votes. This measure would enhance the penalty for importing or trafficking carfentanil, fentanyl, or fentanyl derivatives from a minimum of 50 percent served to a minimum of 85 percent of the sentence served.

Rep. Fugate is a retired Kentucky State Trooper, and during his last ten years serving on the force, he worked on the High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Taskforce, which is a federally funded program. Towards the end of his career, meth, heroin, and fentanyl became increasingly more popular. “Fentanyl is not just destroying lives. It is taking lives. The drug overdose rate is 56 percent higher than it has been in the year prior and 71 percent of that is caused by fentanyl. The overdose death rate is higher because of fentanyl. With something this dangerous, there have to be consequences for those who traffic in these substances and put them into our cities. There are dangers to not only the users but also innocent bystanders, EMTs, paramedics, firefighters, and police officers who respond to the scenes of drug overdoses. It must be prosecuted to the fullest extent, and House Bill 215 does just that,” said Rep. Fugate.

The bill does three things. In section 1, if a person is found guilty of importing into Kentucky carfentanil, fentanyl, or fentanyl derivatives, it is a Class C Felony, and the defendant shall not be eligible for pretrial diversion and must serve at least 85 percent of their sentence before being released on probation or parole. Section 2 deals with those who distribute and traffic the drug and if they are found with more than 1 gram of the drug, they will also not be eligible for pretrial diversion and cannot be released until 85 percent of their sentence is served. If a person is found with under 1 gram of fentanyl, they are still eligible for a drug rehab facility instead of prison. The last section of the bill deals with aggravated trafficking, and if a person is found with more than 1 gram of fentanyl, they must serve 85 percent of their incarceration.

The bill is named after Dalton Bishop, a 22-year-old who passed away from a fentanyl overdose in November 2020. His parent’s, Rita and William Bishop, spoke in front of the committee about what happened to their son and how it is so important for this legislation to pass. “One of the scariest things to me is that these dealers are bonded out of jail within 24 hours of their arrest, just to begin this all over again,” said Mrs. Bishop.

Some concerns people have with the bill are that it would affect the users more than the distributers and that there needs to be more focus on getting treatment for the users. But Representative Fugate assured the committee that this bill is specifically targeting the distributers and that he agrees we need to find ways to get treatment for those addicted to these harmful drugs. “I spend my life every day that I am not here helping people who are addicted. But I have no sympathy for somebody who would take a poisoned substance and sell it to my people and the people I love in my communities. There must be consequences that are substantial to keep people from distributing,” said Rep. Fugate

The bill is now awaiting further action on the House floor. To view the full piece of legislation, visit legislature.ky.gov.