My home state of Kentucky is known primarily for bourbon, horse races and ranking at or near the bottom of things like education, women’s health and poverty. But none of this is surprising considering Kentucky lawmakers’ unending commitment to patently backward policies.

Take the city of Louisville’s new rental registry. Coming on the heels of a Metro Council ordinance passed in December 2022, the city requires owners of rental properties to register their properties, pay a registration fee and agree to have them regularly inspected. Properties will also be randomly inspected—though government-owned properties are conveniently exempt.

In announcing the registry, Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg stated that the registry would help identify problem properties early and provide a way for tenants to report problems without worrying about negative reactions from their landlords.