Well, House Bill five, the Safer Kentucky Act, is being tested in court.

Kentucky lawmakers passed the Tough on crime bill in 2020 for a class action lawsuit alleges the state Department of Corrections unlawfully increased prison time for felons convicted before the law went into effect.

But this week, a judge ruled in favor of the state, putting a stay on the case.

The suit is on behalf of Toby Barry, who pleaded guilty to crimes of assault and strangulation in May of 2024.

He expected to be parole eligible by the end of this year, but that date has been pushed to 2031.

The doc has said 175 other inmates have had their parole date similarly delayed.

Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman says these inmates deserve to be behind bars for longer.

An attorney for Barry says the Safer Kentucky Act was not meant to be retroactive, and that the doc acted outside of its statutory authority.