FRANKFORT, Ky. — Gov. Andy Beshear on Friday signed a measure aimed at deterring and penalizing so-called "porch pirates."
What You Need To Know
- Gov. Beshear signed a bill cracking down on mail theft in Kentucky
- Senate Bill 23 makes stealing packages delivered by Fedex, Amazon and UPS from someone's doorstep a felony, punishable by up to five years in prison
- The measure closed a loophole in the state's decades-old theft of mail statute that only applied to mail and packages from the USPS
Beshear signed Senate Bill 23 into law, which makes stealing packages from private carriers like Amazon, Fedex and UPS off of someone's doorstep a felony.
The measure closed a loophole in the state's decades-old theft of mail statute that only applied to mail and packages from the U.S. Postal Service.
The bipartisan measure breezed through the legislature, passing 37-0 in the Senate and 81-14 in the House. It was spearheaded by Jefferson County Democratic Reps. Harper Angle, McGarvey and Yates.
Offenders caught snagging someone else's delivery will now face up to five years in prison.
Package thefts from porches are a big issue in Louisville and throughout the state, lawmakers said. Some people have been victimized “over and over again,” with the theft of medicines and other important items from their porches.
A similar measure was recently introduced at the federal level. H.R. 6852, dubbed the Porch Pirates Act of 2022, would amend title 18 of the U.S. Code to extend mail theft protections to deliveries from private carriers. That bill hasn't yet moved in Washington.