23 Oct Family Court Judge rules Kentucky’s “Two Strikes” Law on Custody unconstitutional

On October 14, 2026, Jefferson County Family Court Judge Lori Goodwin found that the newly enacted law concerning custody, domestic violence, and child abuse was unconstitutional. In a ten-page Order, the Court found that statutory changes in Senate Bill 122 violate the equal protections afforded to all citizens, including children. The law has sometimes been called the “Two Strikes” bill, as two or more acts of domestic violence automatically results in supervised visitation between parent and child for an indefinite period of time.

In the Order, Judge Goodwin detailed her rationale regarding the impact of the sweeping legislation. The Order stated that the legislature enacted an arbitrary algorithm that categorizes people as a danger rather than weighing the facts of each case. For example, the law requires treatment for domestic violence, parenting classes, mental health treatment, and substance abuse assessment, even in instances where the particular issues are not even alleged. The Court further noted that rural areas of the state are unlikely to have the same range of services as urban or affluent areas.

The text of the Order may be found here:

In this case, the Respondent father was found not to have committed any acts of domestic violence by the Family Court. John H. Helmers, Jr. and Melina Hettiaratchi of Helmers+Associated represented the falsely accused parent. The Hon. A. Holland Houston served as the children’s guardian ad litem in this case and also argued that the law violated the children’s rights.

Judge Goodwin’s Order is not binding on other judges or courts in the Commonwealth; however, other judges may use the logic in this order when addressing common issues in similar cases.

Helmers+Associates has written about the dangers of the new law since its passage in July.

When asked for comment, Melina Hettiaratchi stated that the law was fatally flawed from the start. Specifically, Hettiaratchi said, “The bill was passed without consulting judges or persons familiar with the issues in Family Court. Application leads to absurd results. For example, there are some families in which both parents have past histories of domestic violence or child neglect–sometimes years before the children were born. In those cases, where would children go during the mandatory supervised visitation for both parents?” 

Read more about this issue on the Helmers+Associates blog in previous August 7 and September 9 posts.