Kentucky Becomes 22nd State to Ban Private Ownership of Zombies

By Bulletin Staff

Kentucky this week joined 21 other states that ban the private ownership of zombies by individuals, leaving just six states that don’t regulate ownership of the undead.

The Kentucky ban, passed on a bipartisan basis in the legislature and signed into law by the state’s governor on Monday, was dubbed “Murph’s Law” after Murphy “Murph” Roth, a 19-year-old man killed and devoured by a zombie kept by Roth’s parents on their farm near Elizabethtown, Kentucky, in March 2022.

Roth apparently tried to wrestle with the zombie during a beer-soaked party with friends. But he passed out within reach of the zombie and was partially devoured before his friends realized he had been disemboweled.

The zombie was subsequently put down, as was Roth once he turned. No charges were filed against Roth’s parents. The undead individual had been a beloved relation of the family.

Kentucky Governor Julian Bashir supported passage of Murph’s Law, but the governor’s signing statement acknowledged the controversy that dogged the measure in the run up to its passage, with many conservative state legislators opposing the ban as an infringement on private ownership rights.

“While it is essential to acknowledge the property rights of individuals, we must also recognize that certain responsibilities accompany those rights. Keeping a zombie as a ‘pet’ in one’s home poses grave dangers not only to the owner but also to their neighbors and our entire community. This ban is not an infringement on personal freedom but a necessary measure to preserve the safety of all Kentuckians,” read a statement from the governor’s office.

“Dangerous Precedent”

Gale Dukat, a Kentucky state representative from District 9, said that he opposed the bill because it set what he called “a dangerous precedent of government overreach” into private lives. “Property rights are fundamental to our way of life. I don’t deny the potential dangers of zombie ownership, but we have to be cautious about sacrificing our freedoms in the name of security,” the representative said.

Dukat had proposed alternative solutions to address the concerns raised by the presence of zombies without resorting to a complete ban, such as stricter regulations, mandatory safety measures or increased licensing requirements for zombie owners.

Kentucky previously was one of seven states with no regulations in place around the ownership of zombies. With the adoption of Murph’s Law, 22 states now fully ban private citizens from owning the undead, while another 22 states plus the District of Columbia provide for private ownership under various licensing or permit schemes.

Typically, states that license private ownership of the undead limit persons to only keeping family members who have turned. Licensing requirements often include specific conditions of restraint or confinement, and caretakers usually are required to carry insurance to cover costs and damages in the event their zombie escapes or attacks a bystander.

The Push to Let Zombies “Rest in Peace”

Jack Sisko, director of the Washington-based Zombie Rights Coalition, hailed passage of the Kentucky law as “another step toward recognition that zombies do not lose their basic human rights just because they are no longer actually human.”

Sisko said that the ZRC will continue to pursue efforts to pass similar laws in states that still permit private zombie ownership. “We won’t rest until the undead can finally rest in peace,” Sisko added.

According to the Zombie Violence Archive, an online resource that documents zombie attacks and outbreaks around the United States, since 2001 more than 700 people have been attacked by zombies kept by private owners, including more than 240 incidents in which the owners themselves were killed and/or turned by their own zombies.

Note: The Bulletin of the Zombie Scientists is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons (living, dead or living dead), actual organizations or actual events is entirely coincidental. See our About page and our Origin Story.

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