{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-65.1591","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 65.1591","heading":"Peer support counseling.","body":"(1) As used in this section:\n(a) \"Peer support communication\" means any oral or written communication\nmade in the course of, or application for, a peer support counseling session or\nany communication by a peer support participant regarding the contents of a\npeer support counseling session  to another peer support specialist, staff\nmember of a peer support counseling program, or the supervisor of a peer\nsupport specialist;\n(b) \"Peer support counseling program\" means a program provided by a public\nagency to provide counseling services from a peer support specialist to a\npublic safety employee;\n(c) \"Peer support counseling session\" means any counseling formally provided\nthrough a peer support counseling program between a peer support specialist\nand one (1) or more public safety employees;\n(d) \"Peer support participant\" means a public safety employee who receives\ncounseling services from a peer support specialist;\n(e) \"Peer support specialist\" means a public safety employee designated by the\npublic agency to provide peer support counseling who has received training in\nboth peer support counseling and in providing emotional and moral support to\npublic safety employees who have been in or exposed to an emotionally\ntraumatic experience in the course of employment;\n(f) \"Public agency\" has the same mea ning as the entities listed in KRS 61.870;\nand\n(g) \"Public safety employee\" means an individual employed by a public agency\nwho:\n1. Serves as a police officer as defined by KRS 15.420(2)(a)1.;\n2. Serves as a jailer, deputy jailer, or a correctional officer employed by a\nlocal detention center, local correctional facility, or regional jail;\n3. Serves in a position that is primarily engaged in firefighting activities,\nwhether paid or unpaid;\n4. Serves as a certified telecommunicator as provided by KRS 15.560 to\n15.565; or\n5. Is licensed to provide emergency medical services as provided by KRS\nChapter 311A.\n(2) Any public agency may create and design a peer support counseling program to\nprovide support  to public safety employees who have been in or exposed to an\nemotionally traumatic experience in the course of employment.\n(3) The content of any peer support communication shall remain confidential and shall\nnot be disclosed to any individual who was not  party to the peer support counseling\nsession or peer support communication, except when the peer support\ncommunication contains:\n(a) An explicit threat of suicide by a participant in which the participant shares an\nintent to die by suicide, a plan to carr y out a suicide attempt, or discloses the\nmeans by which the participant intends to carry out a suicide attempt. This\nparagraph shall not apply to any peer support communication where the\nparticipant solely shares that the participant is experiencing suicidal thoughts;\n(b) An explicit threat by a participant of imminent and serious physical and\nbodily harm or death to a clearly identified or reasonably identifiable victim;\n(c) Information related to the abuse or neglect of a child or an older adult or\nvulnerable individual that is required by law to be reported;\n(d) An admission of criminal conduct; or\n(e) Information which is required by law to be disclosed.\n(4) A peer support participant shall hold a privilege from disclosure of any peer support\ncommunication in any disciplinary proceeding or any civil or criminal proceeding\nunless it contains information exempted under subsection (3)(b), (c), (d), or (e) of\nthis section. Under this privilege, the peer support communication shall be subject\nto the same prot ections as any counselor -client privilege provided under the\nKentucky Rules of Evidence in any criminal or civil proceeding.\n(5) This section shall not prohibit:\n(a) The use of or sharing by the public agency of anonymous data for research,\nstatistical analysis, or educational purposes;\n(b) The disclosure of an observation by an employee of the public agency of a\npeer support participant outside of a peer support counseling session and not\ncontained in peer support communication; or\n(c) The disclosure of kn owledge of a law enforcement officer of the public\nagency about a peer support participant not gained from peer support\ncommunication.","path":["KRS Chapter 65"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=57266","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:49:20Z","sha256":"8ad0e2db84e08968e0efdfd92ea125344a116c2c48020951232d6ccaafa3fc61","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-65.159","next":"us-ky/krs-65.160"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}