Kentucky
The Kentucky Law Enforcement Council (KLEC) certifies peace officers, and certification is revoked by operation of law on a felony or listed sex-offense conviction. KLEC publishes no list of revoked officers. Since 2023 the State has barred certification when a disqualifying offense was expunged, let 20-year-olds attend basic training, made agency wellness and early-intervention records privileged, waived the agility test for experienced out-of-state officers, and made it easier to withhold open investigative files.
- Sources checked
- Part of
- Officer Ledger
At a glance
- Certifying body
- Kentucky Law Enforcement Council (KLEC), in the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet. It certifies peace officers under the Peace Officer Professional Standards (KRS 15.380 to 15.404) and revokes certification (KRS 15.315, 15.330, 15.391).
- Statute
- KRS 15.310 to 15.404 (certification, standards, revocation); 15.405 and 15.406 (prior-employment records and status requests from other states); 15.408 (age-20 recruits, 2023); 15.409 (wellness and early-intervention programs, 2023); 61.878 (Open Records exemptions); 61.168 (body-camera recordings); 503.090 (use of force in law enforcement). Rules: 503 KAR 1:140 (professional standards), 503 KAR 3, and 503 KAR 5.
- Minimum standards
- At certification: U.S. citizen; at least 21; high school diploma or equivalent; driver’s license; fingerprint check; no felony, listed sex-offense misdemeanor, or attempt, “or have had any offense listed under this subsection expunged” (added 2023); not barred from possessing firearms; no dishonorable, bad-conduct, or other-than-honorable discharge; not permanently revoked in another state; and a medical exam, drug screen, background investigation, interview, psychological suitability screening, physical agility test (waived since 2025 for some experienced out-of-state officers), and polygraph (KRS 15.382). A person aged 20 may be hired to attend basic training if 21 at certification (15.408).
- Decertification
- Revocation by operation of law for administrative error; a guilty or Alford plea to, or conviction of, any felony or listed sex offense, including equivalent out-of-state crimes; a firearm prohibition; a dishonorable or bad-conduct discharge; or willful falsification. The officer may seek reinstatement through a KRS 13B hearing; expungement of an offense is not a ground for reinstatement. Discretionary (“may”): termination for training failure, for “professional malfeasance” (including unjustified excessive or deadly force, tampering, and false testimony) or “professional nonfeasance” (including failure to intervene in unlawful force and intentional failure to disclose exculpatory or impeachment evidence), termination after listed misdemeanor convictions, certain discharges, or resignation or retirement while under investigation for conduct likely to lead to termination. Agencies “shall report” within 15 days; an agency that does not may be suspended from the training incentive fund (KLEFPF) for up to 5 years (KRS 15.391).
- Public decertification list
- None found. KLEC publishes no revocation list and no public lookup, and no statute requires one. Certification status, including whether an officer is being considered for revocation under 15.391, goes to employing agencies through KLEC’s agency-only status and standing request under KRS 15.405 and 15.406 (KLEC forms). The public route is an open-records request under KRS 61.870.
- National Decertification Index
- None found. KRS 15.380 to 15.409 and 503 KAR 1:140 do not name the Index. KRS 15.382 bars only applicants whose certification was permanently revoked in another state.
- Continuing training
- All peace officers with active certification “shall successfully complete forty (40) hours of annual in-service training” certified or recognized by KLEC. An extension of up to 180 days is possible for circumstances beyond the officer’s control. An officer who fails loses law enforcement powers and moves to training-deficiency status until the training is made up (KRS 15.404). Required topics are in KRS 15.334.
Changes, 2023 to 2026
Physical agility test waived for experienced out-of-state officers
An applicant “shall not be required to pass a physical agility test” if certified documentation shows the person is employed, or separated less than 3 months, as a certified officer in another state; is or left in good standing; served there continuously for at least 10 years; and passed a physical agility test for that job. Two sections of the act on telecommunicators took effect July 1, 2026; the rest took effect June 27, 2025.
For officers: With 10 continuous years in another state and good standing, you can skip Kentucky’s agility test.
Lower threshold to withhold open law enforcement investigative records
Law enforcement investigative records are exempt from Open Records if disclosure “could pose an articulable risk of harm” to the agency or its investigation, by revealing unknown informants or witnesses or by premature release. Before, the test was whether disclosure “would harm.” The records still open after enforcement action ends, except prosecutors’ criminal files. The exemption is general; it applies to officer-involved cases like any other.
For officers: Files of an open investigation involving you are easier for the agency to withhold from the public.
Two seats added to KLEC
The Owensboro police chief and the director of the Northern Kentucky Police and Sheriff’s Training Center join the Council. Standards are unchanged.
For officers: No new duty for officers.
Recruits aged 20 may attend basic training
A person at least 20 “shall be eligible to be employed” to attend basic training if 21 at certification, and KLEC “shall allow” attendance if the recruit will be 21 by the end of the course. The 21-year certification minimum in KRS 15.382 is unchanged. KLEC revised two forms incorporated in 503 KAR 1:140 to match.
For officers: Agencies can hire you at 20 for the academy, but you are certified only at 21.
Revocation: expungement no longer helps, KLEC may subpoena separation records, and court security officers move out
KRS 15.391: expungement of “an” offense, not only a felony, is no longer grounds for reinstatement. A “final order” must address whether KLEC met the requirements to revoke. An “investigating agency” now includes one investigating “a criminal act, or an administrative violation,” not only use of force. KLEC may subpoena records to evaluate “the conditions of separation” in automatic and discretionary cases, and confidential, active-investigation, and medical information it receives stays confidential. KRS 15.382 now bars certification when a disqualifying offense was expunged, and 431.074 lets KLEC check the expungement records to verify. KRS 15.380 drops court security officers from the peace officer certification list; they are certified separately.
For officers: An expunged disqualifying conviction still bars certification and does not support reinstatement.
Agency wellness and early-intervention records made privileged and closed to Open Records
Agencies “may” create wellness programs, which may include an “early intervention system” that “identifies and addresses potentially problematic behaviors.” All proceedings, records, opinions, and recommendations of the program “shall be confidential and privileged,” with the privilege held by the officer. Exceptions include the officer’s own claims, explicit threats of suicide or violence, mandated abuse reports, admissions of criminal conduct, and other disclosures required by law. Evidence that can be obtained independently remains discoverable. KRS 61.878 adds these records to the Open Records exemptions.
For officers: What you share in an agency wellness program is privileged, with listed exceptions such as threats and admissions of crimes.
Grandfathered officers get 365 days to change agencies
Officers employed on December 1, 1998, who are deemed certified, keep that status if another covered agency re-employs them within 365 days, instead of 100 days.
For officers: If you were serving on December 1, 1998, you have a year to move to another agency without losing certified status.
Not yet in force and pending
No pending change to officer certification was found. Only enacted bills and adopted rules were reviewed. No Kentucky statute or rule on officer face coverings, visible identification, or prosecutor Brady or Giglio lists was found among 2023–2026 enacted bills; KRS 15.391 already treated intentional failure to disclose exculpatory evidence as professional nonfeasance before 2023.
Checked and unchanged
- KRS 503.090 (use of force in law enforcement): unchanged since 1975. KRS 61.168 (body-camera recordings): last amended 2022. KRS 15.392 (separation reports) and 15.405 and 15.406 (prior-employment records and status to other states): last amended 2021.
- 503 KAR 1:140, amendment effective January 31, 2023 (49 Ky.R. 433, 1074): revised two forms to match crimes that 2022 HB 206 added to KRS 15.382 in July 2022. The underlying statute change predates 2023.
- KRS 15.404 (training) was last amended by 2022 Ky. Acts ch. 90 (HB 239), a constable law enacted in 2022 and effective January 1, 2023. The amended section also covers constables’ admission to basic training. It was not compared with the prior text, so it is not counted.
- 2024 Ky. Acts ch. 171 amended KRS 15.380 only for horse racing and gaming investigators. 2024 ch. 159 and 2026 ch. 68 amended KRS 15.440 and 15.334 (fund eligibility for fish and wildlife officers; domestic violence and child-abuse training content).
- Not counted: 503 KAR 3:010, 3:130, 3:140, and 5:140 (training administration and the wellness program rule), and 2026 bills on State Police off-duty work, trooper re-employment, and stalking and trespass.
Last updated October 19, 2026Source: United States Council for Law & InvestigationCite as: United States Council for Law & Investigation, “Kentucky officer certification: Officer Ledger,” uscli.org/officer-certification-tracker/kentucky (last updated October 19, 2026). Text licensed CC BY 4.0.