Kentucky lawyers would no longer have to join bar association under new bill

LEXINGTON, Ky. — A state lawmaker wants Kentucky’s attorneys to have voluntary — not mandatory — membership to the association that regulates the legal profession.

Sponsored by Rep. Steven Doan, R-Erlanger, House Bill 526 aims to let licensed attorneys decide whether they want to be a member of the Kentucky Bar Association.

Now, state law mandates their membership, which includes paying annual dues and complying with continuing education requirements.

The bill passed on the House floor Feb. 13 and was sent to the Senate Feb. 17. It has not been assigned a committee hearing in the second chamber. A previous iteration of the bill from the same sponsor was approved by the House in 2023, but did not make it any further.

The Kentucky Bar Association is an independent agency of the Supreme Court with the authority to do business given to it by the Kentucky Constitution. It receives no state funding.

Practicing attorneys must join, pay dues and remain in good standing with the association to keep their license. Similar to a union with compulsory dues from everyone in the profession, the association also acts as an advocate when necessary on behalf of the group. But it is not allowed to take political positions or lobby.

Kentucky is one of 33 states, including Washington, D.C., with required, mandatory membership to practice.

In a statement to the Herald-Leader, the office of the Chief Justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court said it would “not be appropriate” for the body to comment on legislation “that may come before the Court upon a legal challenge.”

Doan, the bill sponsor who is also an attorney, said his proposal would move the mandatory bar association requirement into a voluntary status. If passed, it would have a delayed effective date to ensure the Supreme Court has time to determine how it will continue to administer the services the association provides.

In a social media post after the bill passed off the House floor, Doan said the bill does not eliminate the association, and it does not touch public safety or core standards of the profession.

“This also empowers regional and specialized groups like the Northern Kentucky Bar Association (NKBA), the Federalist Society, and others,” Doan said in the post. “Lawyers can freely associate with the organizations that best align with their needs, interests, and values — without mandates. That’s the essence of free speech and voluntary association, rights our Constitution guarantees.”

The state’s association maintains a roster of more than 20,000 licensed attorneys and collects dues to, in part, administer continuing legal education programs, other activities and events, and to support a client protection fund. The association is also responsible for investigating complaints and disciplining members of the bar.

Dues for Kentucky attorneys who have been practicing for more than five years are $310 annually.

Rep. Lindsey Burke, D-Lexington, said Feb. 13 on the House floor the Kentucky Bar Association plays an important role. Shifting the responsibility to the Supreme Court could put a strain on the judicial branch’s budget, Burke said.

“On its best day, it’s a public protection agency making sure that attorneys don’t abuse the public, that they don’t take advantage of their position of trust, that they don’t succumb to the mental health and substance abuse issues that plague our profession and cause people to do very regrettable things,” Burke said.

But Rep. Jason Nemes, R-Middletown, said the services the association provides are important to the profession, but it should still be up to the attorney to decide. Nemes is a practicing attorney in Indiana and Kentucky. He is not in the Indiana Bar Association, where membership is voluntary.

“Nowhere else in Kentucky — nowhere — are you required to join an association to put food on the table,” Nemes said. “Nowhere. Not doctors, not nurses, not architects, nowhere. Only lawyers. It’s wrong. It ought to stop.”

On the floor after the bill passed 70-21, Doan called opposition to the bill “incalculable arguments against why lawyers should be allowed to regulate and decide what they do with their money.”

Previous attempt to make the bar voluntary

Doan proposed the same bill in 2023, arguing in the House Judiciary Committee at the time that “it gives more control to its membership to influence the programming and budget by voluntarily joining and giving affirmative support through their contributions.”

In that same committee, then Chief Justice Laurance B. VanMeter urged the committee to not advance the bill “given the severe constitutional questions surrounding it.”

He said the proposal would cause “needless conflict” and quoted “United at Last: The Judicial Article and the Struggle to Reform Kentucky Courts.”

The book, authored by Nemes and two other Kentucky lawyers, is a general history of Kentucky’s courts and describes in detail the 1975 constitutional amendment that overhauled the state’s court system.

VanMeter quoted passages of the book back to Nemes who sat on the committee, including those about the history of the Kentucky Bar Association and its place as “an agency solely of the judiciary.” He also quoted sections of the book that affirms the Kentucky Bar Association is “exclusively vested in the Supreme Court.”

It passed the House 74-20 and was sent to the Senate, where it was never heard in a committee.