Kentucky
Bill banning hemp beverages could crater industry in Kentucky, critics warn
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FRANKFORT, Ky. — A revised bill that would ban the sale of THC beverages in Kentucky is moving through the General Assembly after a committee meeting Wednesday evening, despite concerns over how the legislation could affect the burgeoning industry.
Senate Bill 202, from Sen. Julie Raque Adams, R-Louisville, was filed last month, with language at the time that would have changed “web site” to “website” in an obscure state statute. Ahead of Wednesday’s meeting, the bill was rewritten to temporarily ban the sale of hemp-based drinks in Kentucky.
The new version of the bill was not publicly available online as of Thursday morning.
It was approved by the Senate Licensing and Occupations Committee on a 7-2 vote but faces an uncertain future — with some supporters even questioning whether they’d be able to vote in favor of the bill on the Senate floor.
Sens. Jimmy Higdon, R-Lebanon, and Michael Nemes, R-Shepherdsville, voted against it, while two Louisville Democrats, Sens. Cassie Chambers Armstrong and Karen Berg, passed during the vote, citing a need for more information. Sen. Stephen Meredith, R-Leitchfield, voted in favor of it in the committee meeting but said he would not repeat that vote in the Senate if a proposed moratorium on sales remains in the bill.
The new language in the bill would ban the sale of drinks containing hemp and cannabinoid products until July 2026 to allow further studies to take place. It would also call on the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to put new regulations in place by the start of 2026 (regulations for some hemp products currently exist, Raque Adams said, but they do not apply to beverages) and would require the University of Kentucky to study manufacturing, testing procedure, distribution, sales and consumer effects.
Raque Adams said the moratorium isn’t ideal, but the bill would address “a really serious issue, because we have an explosion of intoxicating beverages that are being sold to places that are available to kids, and there’s really no regulatory structure around it.”
“In order to get the conversation moving in the right direction, we felt like we had to put (the moratorium) in there,” she said after the meeting. “We had to show how serious we were taking this issue.”
CFHS is currently in charge of regulating the industry in Kentucky. Hemp-based products are not supposed to be sold to anyone under 21.
Hemp beverages are a growing industry nationally. The Washington Post reported hemp-based beverages brought in an estimated $382 million in sales in 2024, with indications that figure could rise to nearly $750 million by 2029.
Still, the industry has been met with pushback in some states. California has banned products infused with THC — the intoxicating chemical in cannabis, a plant family that includes hemp — along with states such as Colorado and New York.
Jim Higdon, CCO and co-founder of Louisville-based Cornbread Hemp (and the son of Sen. Higdon), criticized the bill as one that could significantly hurt his business and took issue with the speed in which it advanced in the legislature. The deadline to file new bills was two weeks ago, but Adams was able to file the proposal through a “shell bill” — a piece of legislation put forward before the deadline that’s later rewritten.
“Because of this surprise beverage ban, Cornbread Hemp could lose its entire beverage investment,” Higdon said in a statement before testifying at the hearing. “This is a manufactured emergency generated by special interests trying to keep Kentucky in the past. We will fight this until the last day of the session.”
Cornbread Hemp employs more than 70 people and has shipped more than 600,000 orders, according to the company. It announced a $1 million expansion last week that would create more than 50 new jobs, with support from Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg and Greater Louisville Inc. CEO Sarah Davasher-Wisdom.
Higdon said a moratorium would end the momentum Cornbread Hemp and similar companies have at their backs. Dee Dee Taylor, the CEO and founder of 502 Hemp who testified alongside Higdon, added even a temporary ban would “kill their business in the state.”
“Once you lose ground in a state, you don’t come back, you move on,” she said, noting online retailers can ship directly to customers, giving an edge in the meantime to companies outside Kentucky.
Two organizations reported lobbying on “intoxicating hemp” during January, according to Kentucky Legislative Ethics Commission records — the Kentucky Restaurant Association and Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of Kentucky. That organization’s chief lobbyist, Charles George, told The Courier Journal in a text message its members “simply want intoxicating hemp beverages regulated in the same manner as alcoholic beverages.”
Raque Adams, co-chair of the Senate committee, said discussions about a hemp beverage bill first took place during an interim committee meeting in September but stalled through the fall until the General Assembly reconvened in January.
Committee chairs often file shell bills “just in case something comes up,” she said. In this case, another legislator had been working on a hemp beverage bill as well, but the pair were unable to come to an agreement with stakeholders about what the legislation should look like.
“We’re running out of days. We had to giddy up and go,” she said. “That’s why I said ‘I’ve got a shell bill that can fit, kind of enhancing this regulatory framework.’”
The bill still faces a full vote in the Senate before being sent to the House. Legislators will meet through next week before recessing for a 10-day veto period, then reconvening for two days at the end of the month.
Reach Lucas Aulbach at laulbach@courier-journal.com.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville celebrated Juneteenth with music, dancing and a parade highlighting Black culture, history and unity.
The Kentucky Black Festival’s Juneteenth Unity Parade brought hundreds of people to west Louisville, with marching bands, dancers, community organizations and families joining together to honor the meaning behind the holiday.
“Seeing the families having a good time seeing everyone dancing, with everything that’s happening in this city and happening in the world, a moment to just take a breath and smile and relax your shoulders is what this is all about,” said Walter Murrah, executive director of the Kentucky Black Foundation.
Juneteenth marks the day in 1865 when enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learned they were free, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued.
For organizers, the celebration is about more than a parade. It’s about recognizing the history that paved the way for future generations.
“Celebrating Juneteenth is more than just dancing and singing. It’s also reaching back and looking at the giants that paved the way for us, but also taking a moment to just celebrate our blackness because I think oftentimes it’s looked down upon, left out, overlooked, and those kind of things,” Murrah said. “And so being Black is beautiful. Being Black is, you know, it should be celebrated, and that’s what Juneteenth is about, is, you know, marrying the history but also looking ahead to what’s in the future.”
Attendees said the event created a space to celebrate their heritage and come together.
“We’re not celebrated enough, so with this being Juneteenth for freedom and unity to come together, this is the day for us to do that,” said Tara Britt.
Community members also emphasized the importance of teaching younger generations about the holiday and its history.
“It’s very important because if we don’t tell them, they won’t know. We have to get educated to educate them because it’s not in the schools right now,” said Shannon Gilbert. “So we get all the knowledge and give it back to them and make sure they’re educated because they’re the future.”
Organizers said the goal is to make sure Juneteenth is not only remembered but experienced through community celebrations like the parade.
Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021, but communities across the country have recognized and celebrated the day for decades.
Kentucky
Demetrus Liggins disputes Fayette County board’s claim he resigned, attorneys allege misconduct
LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX NEWS) — The attorneys for Dr. Demetrus Liggins issued a press release Friday alleging the Fayette County Board of Education publicly announced a resignation that never happened, cited the wrong Kentucky statutes to justify placing him on administrative leave, and installed a replacement superintendent without legal authority to do so.
The press release, dated June 19, 2026, gives FCPS a four-day deadline to rescind the administrative leave, withdraw the replacement-superintendent designation, and correct the public record. If the district does not comply, Dr. Liggins’ legal team has reserved the right to pursue contractual, statutory, constitutional, defamation, false-light, civil-rights, and tort claims.
According to the press release, Dr. Liggins proposed discussions toward a possible separation agreement — he did not submit an unconditional resignation. His attorneys allege he expressly corrected the Board’s characterization before the Board acted, yet the Board publicly announced a “resignation notice” anyway.
The press release also notes a striking internal contradiction in the Board’s own June 11 letter: the document’s letterhead continued to identify “Superintendent: Demetrus Liggins, PhD” even while the body of the letter announced an “Acting Superintendent.”
Dr. Liggins’ attorneys argue the Board’s June 11 leave letter cited KRS 160.160 and KRS 160.370 — neither of which, according to counsel, expressly authorizes a board to indefinitely suspend a contracted superintendent, bar him from communicating with district-affiliated persons, exclude him from all school property, and install a substitute officeholder.
Counsel argues the Board deliberately avoided KRS 160.350, the statute that specifically governs superintendent terms, vacancies, acting appointments, and removal for cause, according to the press release.
The press release also invokes Lexington-Fayette’s unique status as Kentucky’s sole urban-county government under KRS Chapter 67A, arguing the Board’s legal framing is further flawed because Fayette County is not governed by the special Chapter 67C school-governance provisions applicable to a consolidated local government such as Louisville–Jefferson County.
Attorney Amos N. Jones issued a direct on-the-record statement in the press release.
“This is not administrative leave in any meaningful sense. They announced a resignation that never happened, displaced the lawful superintendent, installed another superintendent, silenced Dr. Liggins inside his own system, and then hired investigators to determine whether the result already imposed should be imposed. Kentucky law does not allow a school board to manufacture a vacancy, perform a removal first, and search for a justification afterward,” Jones said.
According to the press release, Dr. Liggins’s contract runs through June 30, 2029. His attorneys allege the Board’s actions breach that contract by stripping him of his office, authority, professional standing, and future-career value while continuing to pay his salary. The contract reportedly prohibits reassignment without Dr. Liggins’s express written consent.
The press release notes that any litigation or settlement arising from this dispute could carry significant financial consequences for Fayette County taxpayers.
The press release places individual Board members — not just the institution — on notice of potential personal legal exposure. Attorneys cite what they describe as a false resignation narrative, the alleged creation of a fictitious vacancy, concerted displacement, and a false-light portrayal of Dr. Liggins. The notice also warns Board members that attorneys retained by FCPS may not represent their individual interests and that they should have received Upjohn warnings about privilege and conflicts.
According to the press release, counsel has demanded preservation of all communications, drafts, closed-session materials, media contacts, video records, investigative instructions, succession discussions, and communications with public officials, unions, employees, activists, and outside counsel. The inclusion of “media contacts” and “communications with public officials” in the demand suggests Dr. Liggins’ legal team believes there may be involvement by parties beyond the Board itself.
As of Friday, June 19, 2026, the four-day deadline issued to FCPS is running. If the district does not comply, Dr. Liggins’ legal team has indicated it will pursue legal action.
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