Bridges Prefiles Good Sport Bill in KY House

A bill to protect youth sports officials from angry parents has been prefiled in the Kentucky House.

The bill authored by Representatives Randy Bridges of Paducah and Brandon Reed of Hodgenville will make it a Class A misdemeanor to threaten a youth sports official and a Class D felony to assault an official.

The incident that brought the bill into existence was the assault of AAU referee Kenny Culp at a tournament in Paducah. Culp's attacker, Keyon Menifield, was only charged with a Class A misdemeanor, despite knocking the referee unconscious.

The KHSAA welcomes the bill, saying they are seeing more people shy away from officiating because of incidents like Culp's.

The bill will be taken up in the legislative session that starts in January.