House OKs creating GPS tracking offense

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The Kentucky House has passed a bill that would make it a crime to use a GPS tracking device to stalk someone.

Criminal GPS tracking would be a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail.

The measure sailed through the House on a 93-0 vote Friday and heads to the Senate.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Tilley of Hopkinsville says the bill would plug a hole in state law that prosecutors had pointed out to lawmakers.

Tilley says the bill would exempt people from prosecution for using a GPS device to track someone in emergency situations. Other exemptions would occur when the parent of a child or guardian of a disabled person consented to using a GPS device to track someone.

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The legislation is House Bill 109.