Turning to state politics, what rights should grandparents have to visit their grandchildren?

That's the question facing state lawmakers.

Senate Bill 281 from the 2026 legislative session said judges could grant grandparents visitation rights if there was clear evidence that it was in a child's best interest.

That bill didn't make it across the finish line, but lawmakers planned to revisit the issue in 2027.

Clayton Dalton explains in tonight's legislative update.

Kentucky law and a number of U.S.

Supreme Court cases make it clear that fit parents are presumed to act in the best interest of their child, even when denying a relationship between a child and their grandparents.

State Senator Danny Carroll, the chair of the Senate Committee on Families and Children, says he thinks more needs to be done for grandparents.

Throughout the entire United States.

We have put a lot of responsibility on grandparents, but I don't feel like we have protected them on the other side of that.

And in that, and it seems the the courts have been going more towards protecting the parents rights, which I get that I understand that.

But, you know, as society changes, sometimes interpretations need to account for that.

And I think grandparents should be afforded more, more, more visitation or more involvement in grandchildren.

And it shouldn't be something that just optional.

A Kentucky Family Court judge weighed in on the complexity of cases when grandparents sue for visitation rights.

You know, I had a case one time where I had a grandparents who I felt like made such a compelling case, and they were right there and they were present.

And for whatever reason, something snapped and it broke.

But I felt like the parents behavior, if I ordered that grandparent visitation will be so detrimental to their children that it would it would risk emotional injury to them that that in the end, I couldn't find that best interest.

And it was a heartbreaking case.

Absolutely.

State Senator Rick Girdler sponsored the legislation in 2026 that outlined the process for grandparents seeking visitation rights in court.

That bill passed the Senate unanimously but stalled in the House.

He plans to bring it again in 2027 and gave a passionate plea in support of the measure.

We as grandparents need to be able to be a part of that grandchild's life, and I want to give you and and, and the attorneys the ability to be able to say, yes, we can look at this.

We're not asking to be able to raise the kids.

And that's all I'm wanting is to be able to have these grandparents, to be able to love on these children and their own blood, and not be alienated by somebody else because of hate.

But not every legislator is on board.

I would just about fight somebody in the parking garage over this bill.

I don't support it for a second.

I think that it opens the door to significant levels of of abuse and continued disagreement in between parents and grandparents.

If a parent is fit to raise their own child, then they are fit to make whatever decisions they think are best for that child, even when a grandparent disagrees with that.

Again, I just want to reiterate that the grandparents have had their chance to raise children.

God gave those children to those parents, and I am 100% in favor of the government staying out of those decisions as often as possible, and I think this is one of them.

For Kentucky Edition, I'm Clayton Dalton.

Senate Bill 281 also outlined a path for grandparents to get visitation rights for children in the care of non-family guardians.