(1) The cabinet shall develop and implement a registration system for registrants which includes creating a new computerized information file to be accessed through the Law Information Network of Kentucky.
(2) A registrant shall, on or before the date of his or her release by the court, the parole board, the cabinet, or any detention facility, register with the appropriate local probation and parole office in the county in which he or she intends to reside. The person in charge of the release shall facilitate the registration process.
(3) Any person required to register pursuant to subsection (2) of this section shall be informed of the duty to register by the court at the time of sentencing if the court grants probation or conditional discharge or does not impose a penalty of incarceration, or if incarcerated, by the official in charge of the place of confinement upon release. The court and the official shall require the person to read and sign any form that may be required by the cabinet, stating that the duty of the person to register has been explained to the person. The court and the official in charge of the place of confinement shall require the releasee to complete the acknowledgment form and the court or the official shall retain the original completed form. The official shall then send the form to the Sex Offender Registry Section, Department of Kentucky State Police, Frankfort, Kentucky 40601.
(4) The court or the official shall order the person to register with the appropriate local probation and parole office which shall obtain the person’s fingerprints, palm prints, DNA sample, photograph, and a copy of his or her motor vehicle operator’s license as well as any other government-issued identification cards, if any. Thereafter, the registrant shall return to the appropriate local probation and parole office not less than one (1) time every two (2) years in order for a new photograph to be obtained, and the registrant shall pay the cost of updating the photo for registration purposes. Any registrant who has not provided palm prints, a copy of his or her motor vehicle operator’s license, or a copy of any other government-issued identification cards, if any, as of July 14, 2018, shall provide the information to the appropriate local probation and parole office when the registrant appears for a new photograph to be obtained. Any change to a registrant’s motor vehicle operator’s license number or any other government-issued identification card after the registrant appears for a new photograph shall be registered in accordance with subsection (11) of this section. Failure to comply with this requirement shall be punished as set forth in subsection (12) of this section.
(5) (a) The appropriate probation and parole office shall send the registration form containing the registrant information, fingerprints, palm prints, photograph, and a copy of his or her motor vehicle operator’s license as well as any other government-issued identification cards, if any, and any special conditions imposed by the court or the Parole Board, to the Sex Offender Registry Section, Department of Kentucky State Police, Frankfort, Kentucky 40601. The appropriate probation and parole office shall send the DNA sample to the
Department of Kentucky State Police forensic laboratory in accordance with administrative regulations promulgated by the cabinet.
(b) The Sex Offender Registry Section, upon request by a state or local law enforcement agency, shall make available to that agency registrant information, including a person’s fingerprints and photograph, where available, as well as any special conditions imposed by the court or the Parole Board.
(c) Any employee of the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet who disseminates, or does not disseminate, registrant information in good-faith compliance with the requirements of this subsection shall be immune from criminal and civil liability for the dissemination or lack thereof.
(6) (a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this subsection, any person who has been convicted in a court of any state or territory, a court of the United States, or a similar conviction from a court of competent jurisdiction in any other country, or a court martial of the United States Armed Forces of a sex crime or criminal offense against a victim who is a minor and who has been notified of the duty to register by that state, territory, or court, or who has been committed as a sexually violent predator under the laws of another state, laws of a territory, or federal laws, or has a similar conviction from a court of competent jurisdiction in any other country, shall comply with the registration requirement of this section, including the requirements of subsection (4) of this section, and shall register with the appropriate local probation and parole office in the county of residence within five (5) working days of relocation. No additional notice of the duty to register shall be required of any official charged with a duty of enforcing the laws of this Commonwealth.
(b) No person shall be required to register under this subsection for a juvenile adjudication if such an adjudication in this Commonwealth would not create a duty to register. This paragraph shall be retroactive.
(7) (a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this subsection, if a person is required to register under federal law or the laws of another state or territory, or if the person has been convicted of an offense in a court of the United States, in a court martial of the United States Armed Forces, or under the laws of another state or territory that would require registration if committed in this Commonwealth, that person upon changing residence from the other state or territory of the United States to the Commonwealth or upon entering the Commonwealth for employment, to carry on a vocation, or as a student shall comply with the registration requirement of this section, including the requirements of subsection (4) of this section, and shall register within five (5) working days with the appropriate local probation and parole office in the county of residence, employment, vocation, or schooling. A person required to register under federal law or the laws of another state or territory shall be presumed to know of the duty to register in the Commonwealth. As used in this subsection, “employment” or “carry on a vocation” includes employment that is full-time or part-time for a period exceeding fourteen (14) days or for an aggregate period of time exceeding thirty (30) days during any calendar
year, whether financially compensated, volunteered, or for the purpose of government or educational benefit. As used in this subsection, “student” means a person who is enrolled on a full-time or part-time basis, in any public or private educational institution, including any secondary school, trade or professional institution, or institution of higher education.
(b) No person shall be required to register under this subsection for a juvenile adjudication if such an adjudication in this Commonwealth would not create a duty to register. This paragraph shall be retroactive.
(8) The registration form shall be a written statement signed by the person which shall include registrant information, including an up-to-date photograph of the registrant for public dissemination.
(9) For purposes of KRS § 17.500 to KRS § 17.580 and 17.991, a post office box number shall not be considered an address.
(10) (a) If a registrant does not have an established and fixed residence of regular return, he or she shall report in person no less than every thirty (30) days to the local probation and parole office in the county in which he or she is present and register the approximate area where he or she can be located.
(b) If the registrant changes his or her location to a new county, the person shall notify his or her current local probation and parole office of the new location on or before the date of the change of location.
(c) The registrant shall also report in person to the appropriate local probation and parole office in the county of his or her new location no later than five (5) working days after the date of the change of location.
(11) (a) If the residence address of any registrant changes, but the registrant remains in the same county, the person shall register, on or before the date of the change of address, with the appropriate local probation and parole office in the county in which he or she resides.
(b) 1. If the registrant changes his or her residence to a new county, the person shall notify his or her current local probation and parole office of the new residence address on or before the date of the change of address.
2. The registrant shall also register with the appropriate local probation and parole office in the county of his or her new residence no later than five (5) working days after the date of the change of address.
(c) If the:
1. Motor vehicle operator’s license number or any other government-issued identification card number of any registrant changes; or
2. Registrant obtains for the first time a motor vehicle operator’s license number or any other government-issued identification card number;
the registrant shall register the change or addition no later than five (5) working days after the date of the change or the date of the addition, with the appropriate local probation and parole office in the county in which he or she resides.
(d) 1. As soon as a probation and parole office learns of the person’s new
address under paragraph (b)1. of this subsection, that probation and parole office shall notify the appropriate local probation and parole office in the county of the new address of the effective date of the new address.
2. As soon as a probation and parole office learns of the person’s new address under paragraph (b)2. of this subsection, that office shall forward this information as set forth under subsection (5) of this section.
(e) 1. A registrant shall register the following information with the appropriate local probation and parole office no less than twenty-one (21) days before traveling outside of the United States:
a. His or her passport number and country of issue;
b. The dates of departure, travel, and return; and
c. The foreign countries, colonies, territories, or possessions that the registrant will visit.
2. The registrant shall register the following information with the appropriate local probation and parole office no later than five (5) working days after the date of his or her return from traveling outside of the United States:
a. The date he or she departed, traveled, and returned; and
b. The foreign countries, colonies, territories, or possessions that the registrant visited.
(12) Any person required to register under this section who knowingly violates any of the provisions of this section or prior law is guilty of a Class D felony for the first offense and a Class C felony for each subsequent offense.
(13) Any person required to register under this section or prior law who knowingly provides false, misleading, or incomplete information is guilty of a Class D felony for the first offense and a Class C felony for each subsequent offense.
(14) (a) The cabinet shall verify the addresses, names, motor vehicle operator’s license numbers, and government-issued identification card numbers of individuals required to register under this section. Verification shall occur at least once every ninety (90) days for a person required to register under KRS § 17.520(2), at least once every calendar year for a person required to register under KRS
17.520(3), and at least once every thirty (30) days for a person who does not have an established and fixed residence of regular return.
(b) If the cabinet determines that a person has:
1. Moved without providing his or her new address;
2. Failed to notify the local probation and parole office of his or her presence in a new county without an established and fixed residence of regular return; or
3. A new name, motor vehicle operator’s license number, or government- issued identification card number that he or she has not provided;
to the appropriate local probation and parole office or offices as required under subsection (11)(a), (b), and (c) of this section, the cabinet shall notify
the appropriate local probation and parole office of the new address, name, motor vehicle operator’s license number, or government-issued identification card number used by the person. The office shall then forward this information as set forth under subsection (5) of this section. The cabinet shall also notify the appropriate court, Parole Board, and appropriate Commonwealth’s attorney, sheriff’s office, probation and parole office, corrections agency, and law enforcement agency responsible for the investigation of the report of noncompliance.
(c) An agency that receives notice of the noncompliance from the cabinet under paragraph (a) of this subsection:
1. Shall consider revocation of the parole, probation, postincarceration supervision, or conditional discharge of any person released under its authority; and
2. Shall notify the appropriate county or Commonwealth’s Attorney for prosecution.
(15) The provisions of subsections (10) and (14) of this section relating to registrants who do not have an established and fixed residence of regular return shall apply to any person required to register on or after January 1, 2024.
Effective: January 1, 2024
History: Amended 2023 Ky. Acts ch. 109, sec. 2, effective January 1, 2024. — Amended 2018 Ky. Acts ch. 42, sec. 3, effective July 14, 2018; and ch. 121, sec. 2, effective July 14, 2018. — Amended 2017 Ky. Acts ch. 158, sec. 16, effective June
29, 2017. — Amended 2011 Ky. Acts ch. 2, sec. 92, effective June 8, 2011. — Amended 2009 Ky. Acts ch. 100, sec. 6, effective June 25, 2009; and repealed, reenacted, and amended 2009 Ky. Acts ch. 105, sec. 5, effective March 27, 2009. — Amended 2008 Ky. Acts ch. 158, sec. 13, effective July 1, 2008. — Amended 2007
Ky. Acts ch. 85, sec. 100, effective June 26, 2007. — Amended 2006 Ky. Acts ch.
182, sec. 6, effective July 12, 2006. — Amended 2000 Ky. Acts ch. 401, sec. 16, effective April 11, 2000. — Amended 1998 Ky. Acts ch. 606, sec. 138, effective July
15, 1998. — Created 1994 Ky. Acts ch. 392, sec. 2, effective July 15, 1994.
Legislative Research Commission Note (7/14/2018). This statute was amended by 2018
Ky. Acts chs. 42 and 121. Where these Acts are not in conflict, they have been codified together. Where a conflict exists, Acts ch. 121, which was last enacted by the General Assembly, prevails under KRS § 446.250.
Legislative Research Commission Note (6/26/2007). 2007 Ky. Acts ch. 85, relating to the creation and organization of the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, instructs the Reviser of Statutes to correct statutory references to agencies and officers whose names have been changed in that Act. Such a correction has been made in this section.