Kentucky Legal Research

The Kentucky General Assembly mandates that the Legislative Research Commission compile, publish, and distribute regulations filed by Kentucky agencies. The Kentucky Revised Statutes, Chapter 13A covers administrative regulations.  The Kentucky Administrative Regulations Service is the state equivalent of the federal Code of Federal Regulations and contains final regulations. The service began in 1975 and is published each August.  The Administrative Register of Kentucky updates the Kentucky Administrative Regulations Service. The register is the state equivalent of the Federal Register and includes proposed regulations, final regulations, emergency regulations, and announcements.

NOTE:  Kentucky uses incorporation by reference.  The regulations may refer to materials which are not printed in the service, but are available via the agency.  It will take more time to obtain and review the regulations.

In 1994, Kentucky passed an administrative procedures act which defines how an administrative hearing should be conducted.  The act is codified in the Kentucky Revised Statutes Chapter 13B.   

• The Kentucky Attorney General's Office, Division of Administrative Hearings represents the various boards and agencies in hearings. 

• The Kentucky Circuit Court  is authorized to review administrative decisions or actions.  An appeal to the circuit court is considered an original action and not an appeal.

• There is no centralized source for locating administrative decisions and some agencies post their administrative decisions on their websites.
• Kentucky Administrative Law Basics ...  Program material from the Kentucky Bar Association (2014).