On Friday, lawmakers filed Logan’s Law, a bill named in honor of Logan Tipton and aimed at ensuring no other family has to endure the pain and heartbreak experienced by the Tipton family.
More than half of Kentucky House members have already signed up as cosponsors of the bipartisan measure.
Logan was a 6-year-old who was violently killed as he slept in his Versailles home in 2015. Ronald Exantus, who was charged with the killing, was acquitted of capital murder for Logan's death and first-degree burglary by reason of insanity in a Kentucky court in 2018. However, he was found guilty on two counts of second-degree assault and one count of fourth-degree assault for attacking the other members of the Tipton family and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Seven years later, Exantus was released from prison in Kentucky in October on mandatory re-entry supervision, despite being denied release three times by the Kentucky Parole Board. Still, members of the parole board as well as their employees received death threats, prompting a State Police investigation, after the release.
Exantus was rearrested in Florida on October 9, just eight days after being released from prison. He is back in Kentucky state custody and will be released later this year, after completing his sentence.
The measure, HB 422, is sponsored by Rep. Dan Fister, R-Versailles, and Rep. TJ Roberts, R-Burlington. According to the two, Logan’s Law is rooted in the belief that meaningful change can and must come from tragedy.
it seeks to address critical gaps in the system and establish safeguards designed to protect families, improve accountability, and prevent similar outcomes in the future.
“Logan’s Law is about turning unimaginable loss into action,” said Fister. “We cannot undo what happened to Logan or erase the grief his family carries, but we can honor his memory by working to ensure that other families are protected from experiencing the same devastation.”
HB 422 would significantly strengthen Kentucky’s sentencing and parole laws for serious and violent crimes. The bill expands and clarifies the definition of “violent offender,” increases the minimum time certain offenders must serve before becoming eligible for parole (including raising life-sentence parole eligibility from 25 to 35 years), and limits early release options such as mandatory reentry supervision for violent and high-level felony offenders.
The bill has not yet been assigned to a committee.
Six-year-old Logan Tipton was violently killed as he slept in his Versailles home in 2015. A bill named in his memory is aimed at ensuring no other family has to endure the pain and heartbreak experienced by the family. (Submitted photo)
