KENTUCKY CONSTITUTION
ARTICLE XVIII
GENERAL PROVISIONS

§224 | BONDS – WHAT OFFICERS TO GIVE – LIABILITY ON

The General Assembly shall provide by a general law what officers shall execute bond for the faithful discharge of their duties, and fix the liability therein.

§225 | ARMED MEN NOT TO BE BROUGHT INTO STATE – EXCEPTION

No armed person or bodies of men shall be brought into this State for the preservation of the peace or the suppression of domestic violence, except upon the application of the General Assembly, or of the Governor when the General Assembly may not be in session.

§226 | STATE LOTTERY – CHARITABLE LOTTERIES AND CHARITABLE GIFT ENTERPRISES – OTHER LOTTERIES AND GIFT ENTERPRISES FORBIDDEN

(1) The General Assembly may establish a Kentucky state lottery and may establish a state lottery to be conducted in cooperation with other states. Any lottery so established shall be operated by or on behalf of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

(2) The General Assembly may by general law permit charitable lotteries and charitable gift enterprises and, if it does so, it shall:

(a) Define what constitutes a charity or charitable organization;

(b) Define the types of charitable lotteries and charitable gift enterprises which may be engaged in;

(c) Set standards for the conduct of charitable lotteries and charitable gift enterprises by charitable organizations;

(d) Provide for means of accounting for the amount of money raised by lotteries and gift enterprises and for assuring its expenditure only for charitable purposes;

(e) Provide suitable penalties for violation of statutes relating to charitable lotteries and charitable gift enterprises; and

(f) Pass whatever other general laws the General Assembly deems necessary to assure the proper functioning, honesty, and integrity of charitable lotteries and charitable gift enterprises, and the charitable purposes for which the funds are expended.

(3) Except as provided in this section, lotteries and gift enterprises are forbidden, and no privileges shall be granted for such purposes, and none shall be exercised, and no schemes for similar purposes shall be allowed. The General Assembly shall enforce this section by proper penalties. All lottery privileges or charters heretofore granted are revoked.

§226a | (REPEALED 1935)

Catchline read at time of repeal:

“Manufacture, sale or transportation of intoxicating liquors prohibited – Exception – Legislature to enforce.”

§227 | PROSECUTION AND REMOVAL OF LOCAL OFFICERS FOR MISFEASANCE, MALFEASANCE, OR NEGLECT

Judges of the County Court, Justices of the Peace, Sheriffs, Coroners, Surveyors, Jailers, Assessors, County Attorneys and Constables shall be subject to indictment or prosecution for misfeasance or malfeasance in office, or willful neglect in discharge of official duties, in such mode as may be prescribed by law, and upon conviction his office shall become vacant, but such officer shall have the right to appeal to the Court of Appeals. Provided, also, that the General Assembly may, in addition to the indictment or prosecution above provided, by general law, provide other manner, method or mode for the vacation of office, or the removal from office of any sheriff, jailer, constable or peace officer for neglect of duty, and may provide the method, manner or mode of reinstatement of such officers.

§228 | OATH OF OFFICERS AND ATTORNEYS

Members of the General Assembly and all officers, before they enter upon the execution of the duties of their respective offices, and all members of the bar, before they enter upon the practice of their profession, shall take the following oath or affirmation: I do solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be) that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of this Commonwealth, and be faithful and true to the Commonwealth of Kentucky so long as I continue a citizen thereof, and that I will faithfully execute, to the best of my ability, the office of according to law; and I do further solemnly swear (or affirm) that since the adoption of the present Constitution, I, being a citizen of this State, have not fought a duel with deadly weapons within this State nor out of it, nor have I sent or accepted a challenge to fight a duel with deadly weapons, nor have I acted as second in carrying a challenge, nor aided or assisted any person thus offending, so help me God.

§229 | TREASON DEFINED – EVIDENCE NECESSARY TO CONVICT

Treason against the Commonwealth shall consist only in levying war against it, or in adhering to its enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason except on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or his own confession in open court.

§230 | MONEY NOT TO BE DRAWN FROM TREASURY UNLESS APPROPRIATED – ANNUAL PUBLICATION OF AGeneral ProvisionsOUNTS – CERTAIN REVENUES USABLE ONLY FOR HIGHWAY PURPOSES

No money shall be drawn from the State Treasury, except in pursuance of appropriations made by law; and a regular statement and account of the receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published annually. No money derived from excise or license taxation relating to gasoline and other motor fuels, and no moneys derived from fees, excise or license taxation relating to registration, operation, or use of vehicles on public highways shall be expended for other than the cost of administration, statutory refunds and adjustments, payment of highway obligations, costs for construction, reconstruction, rights-of-way, maintenance and repair of public highways and bridges, and expense of enforcing state traffic and motor vehicle laws.

§231 | SUITS AGAINST THE COMMONWEALTH

The General Assembly may, by law, direct in what manner and in what courts suits may be brought against the Commonwealth.

§232 | MANNER OF ADMINISTERING OATH

The manner of administering an oath or affirmation shall be such as is most consistent with the conscience of the deponent, and shall be esteemed by the General Assembly the most solemn appeal to God.

§233 | GENERAL LAWS OF VIRGINIA IN FORCE IN THIS STATE UNTIL REPEALED

All laws which, on the first day of June, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-two, were in force in the State of Virginia, and which are of a general nature and not local to that State, and not repugnant to this Constitution, nor to the laws which have been enacted by the General Assembly of this Commonwealth, shall be in force within this State until they shall be altered or repealed by the General Assembly.

§233A | VALID OR RECOGNIZED MARRIAGE - LEGAL STATUS OF UNMARRIED INDIVIDUALS

Only a marriage between one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Kentucky. A legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage for unmarried individuals shall not be valid or recognized.

§234 | RESIDENCE AND PLACE OF OFFICE OF PUBLIC OFFICERS

All civil officers for the State at large shall reside within the State, and all district, county, city or town officers shall reside within their respective districts, counties, cities or towns, and shall keep their offices at such places therein as may be required by law.

§235 | SALARIES OF PUBLIC OFFICERS NOT TO BE CHANGED DURING TERM – DEDUCTIONS FOR NEGLECT

The salaries of public officers shall not be changed during the terms for which they were elected; but it shall be the duty of the General Assembly to regulate, by a general law, in what cases and what deductions shall be made for neglect of official duties. This section shall apply to members of the General Assembly also.

§236 | WHEN OFFICERS TO ENTER UPON DUTIES

The General Assembly shall, by law, prescribe the time when the several officers authorized or directed by this Constitution to be elected or appointed, shall enter upon the duties of their respective offices, except where the time is fixed by this Constitution.

§237 | FEDERAL OFFICE INCOMPATIBLE WITH STATE OFFICE

No member of Congress, or person holding or exercising an office of trust or profit under the United States, or any of them, or under any foreign power, shall be eligible to hold or exercise any office of trust or profit under this Constitution, or the laws made in pursuance thereof.

§238 | DISCHARGE OF SURETIES ON OFFICERS’ BONDS

The General Assembly shall direct by law how persons who now are, or may hereafter become, sureties for public officers, may be relieved of or discharged from suretyship.

§239 | DISQUALIFICATION FROM OFFICE FOR PRESENTING OR AGeneral ProvisionsEPTING CHALLENGE TO DUEL – FURTHER PUNISHMENT

Any person who shall, after the adoption of this Constitution, either directly or indirectly, give, accept or knowingly carry a challenge to any person or persons to fight in single combat, with a citizen of this State, with a deadly weapon, either in or out of the State, shall be deprived of the right to hold any office of honor or profit in this Commonwealth; and if said acts, or any of them, be committed within this State, the person or persons so committing them shall be further punished in such manner as the General Assembly may prescribe by law.

§240 | PARDON OF PERSON CONVICTED OF DUELING

The Governor shall have power, after five years from the time of the offense, to pardon any person who shall have participated in a duel as principal, second or otherwise, and to restore him to all the rights, privileges and immunities to which he was entitled before such participation. Upon presentation of such pardon the oath prescribed in Section 228 shall be varied to suit the case.

§241 | RECOVERY FOR WRONGFUL DEATH

Municipal and other corporations, and individuals invested with the privilege of taking private property for public use, shall make just compensation for property taken, injured or destroyed by them; which compensation shall be paid before such taking, or paid or secured, at the election of such corporation or individual, before such injury or destruction. The General Assembly shall not deprive any person of an appeal from any preliminary assessment of damages against any such corporation or individual made by Commissioners or otherwise; and upon appeal from such preliminary assessment, the amount of such damages shall, in all cases, be determined by a jury, according to the course of the common law.

§242 | JUST COMPENSATION TO BE MADE IN CONDEMNING PRIVATE PROPERTY – RIGHT OF APPEAL – JURY TRIAL

The General Assembly shall, by law, fix the minimum ages at which children may be employed in places dangerous to life or health, or injurious to morals; and shall provide adequate penalties for violations of such law.

§243 | CHILD LABOR

All wage-earners in this State employed in factories, mines, workshops, or by corporations, shall be paid for their labor in lawful money. The General Assembly shall prescribe adequate penalties for violations of this section.

§244 | WAGE-EARNERS IN INDUSTRY OR OF CORPORATIONS TO BE PAID IN MONEY

The General Assembly shall prescribe such laws as may be necessary for the granting and paying of old persons an annuity or pension.

§244a | OLD AGE ASSISTANCE

Upon the promulgation of this Constitution, the Governor shall appoint three persons, learned in the law, who shall be Commissioners to revise the statute laws of this Commonwealth, and prepare amendments thereto, to the end that the statute laws shall conform to and effectuate this Constitution.

Such revision and amendments shall be laid before the next General Assembly for adoption or rejection, in whole or in part. The said Commissioners shall be allowed ten dollars each per day for their services, and also necessary stationery for the time during which they are actually employed; and upon their certificate the Auditor shall draw his warrant upon the Treasurer.

They shall have the power to employ clerical assistants, at a compensation not exceeding ten dollars per day in the aggregate. If the Commissioners, or any of them, shall refuse to act, or a vacancy shall occur, the Governor shall appoint another or others in his or their place.

§245 | REVISION OF STATUTES TO CONFORM TO CONSTITUTION

No public officer or employee except the Governor, shall receive as compensation per annum for official services, exclusive of the compensation of legally authorized deputies and assistants which shall be fixed and provided for by law, but inclusive of allowance for living expenses, if any, as may be fixed and provided for by law, any amount in excess of the following sums:

Officers whose jurisdiction or duties are coextensive with the Commonwealth, the mayor of any city of the first class, and Judges and Commissioners of the Court of Appeals, Twelve Thousand Dollars ($12,000); Circuit Judges, Eight Thousand Four Hundred Dollars ($8,400); all other public officers, Seven Thousand Two Hundred Dollars ($7,200). Compensation within the limits of this amendment may be authorized by the General Assembly to be paid, but not retroactively, to public officers in office at the time of its adoption, or who are elected at the election at which this amendment is adopted. Nothing in this amendment shall permit any officer to receive, for the year 1949, any compensation in excess of the limit in force prior to the adoption of this amendment.

§246 | MAXIMUM LIMIT ON COMPENSATION OF PUBLIC OFFICERS

The printing and binding of the laws, journals, department reports, and all other public printing and binding, shall be performed under contract, to be given to the lowest responsible bidder, below such maximum and under such regulations as may be prescribed by law. No member of the General Assembly, or officer of the Commonwealth, shall be in any way interested in any such contract; and all such contracts shall be subject to the approval of the Governor.

§247 | PUBLIC PRINTING – CONTRACT FOR – OFFICERS NOT TO HAVE INTEREST IN – GOVERNOR TO APPROVE

A grand jury shall consist of twelve persons, nine of whom concurring, may find an indictment. In civil and misdemeanor cases, in courts inferior to the Circuit Courts, a jury shall consist of six persons. The General Assembly may provide that in any or all trials of civil actions in the Circuit Courts, three-fourths or more of the jurors concurring may return a verdict, which shall have the same force and effect as if rendered by the entire panel. But where a verdict is rendered by a less number than the whole jury, it shall be signed by all the jurors who agree to it.

§248 | JURIES – NUMBER OF JURORS – THREE-FOURTHS MAY INDICT OR GIVE VERDICT

The House of Representatives of the General Assembly shall not elect, appoint, employ or pay for, exceeding one Chief Clerk, one Assistant Clerk, one Enrolling Clerk, one Sergeant at Arms, one Doorkeeper, one Janitor, two Cloakroom Keepers and four Pages; and the Senate shall not elect, appoint, employ or pay for, exceeding one Chief Clerk, one Assistant Clerk, one Enrolling Clerk, one Sergeant at Arms, one Doorkeeper, one Janitor, one Cloakroom Keeper and three Pages; and the General Assembly shall provide, by general law, for fixing the per diem or salary of all of said employees.

§249 | EMPLOYEES OF GENERAL ASSEMBLY – NUMBER AND COMPENSATION

It shall be the duty of the General Assembly to enact such laws as shall be necessary and proper to decide differences by arbitrators, the arbitrators to be appointed by the parties who may choose that summary mode of adjustment.

§250 | ARBITRATION, METHOD FOR TO BE PROVIDED

No action shall be maintained for possession of any lands lying within this State, where it is necessary for the claimant to rely for his recovery on any grant or patent issued by the Commonwealth of Virginia, or by the Commonwealth of Kentucky prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and twenty, against any person claiming such lands by possession to a well-defined boundary, under a title of record, unless such action shall be instituted within five years after this Constitution shall go into effect, or within five years after the occupant may take possession; but nothing herein shall be construed to affect any right, title or interest in lands acquired by virtue of adverse possession under the laws of this Commonwealth.

§251 | LIMITATION OF ACTIONS TO RECOVER POSSESSION OF LAND BASED ON EARLY PATENTS

It shall be the duty of the General Assembly to provide by law, as soon as practicable, for the establishment and maintenance of an institution or institutions for the detention, correction, instruction and reformation of all persons under the age of eighteen years, convicted of such felonies and such misdemeanors as may be designated by law. Said institution shall be known as the “House of Reform.”

§252 | HOUSES OF REFORM TO BE ESTABLISHED AND MAINTAINED

Persons convicted of felony and sentenced to confinement in the penitentiary shall be confined at labor within the walls of the penitentiary; and the General Assembly shall not have the power to authorize employment of convicts elsewhere, except upon the public works of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, or when, during pestilence or in case of the destruction of the prison buildings, they cannot be confined in the penitentiary.

That Section 253 of the Constitution be amended so that the Commonwealth of Kentucky may use and employ outside of the walls of the penitentiaries in such manner and means as may be provided by law, persons convicted of felony and sentenced to confinement in the penitentiary for the purpose of constructing or reconstructing and maintaining public roads and public bridges or for the purpose of making and preparing material for public roads and bridges, and that the Commonwealth of Kentucky may, by the use and employment of convict labor outside of the walls of the penitentiary by other ways or means, as may be provided by law, aid the counties for road and bridge purposes, work on the State farm or farms.

§253 | WORKING OF PENITENTIARY PRISONERS – WHEN AND WHERE PERMITTED

The Commonwealth shall maintain control of the discipline, and provide for all supplies, and for the sanitary condition of the convicts, and the labor only of convicts may be leased.

§254 | CONTROL AND SUPPORT OF CONVICTS – LEASING OF LABOR

The seat of government shall continue in the city of Frankfort, unless removed by a vote of two-thirds of each House of the first General Assembly which convenes after the adoption of this Constitution.

§255 | FRANKFORT IS STATE CAPITAL

The citizens of Kentucky have the personal right to hunt, fish, and harvest wildlife, using traditional methods, subject only to statutes enacted by the Legislature, and to administrative regulations adopted by the designated state agency to promote wildlife conservation and management and to preserve the future of hunting and fishing. Public hunting and fishing shall be a preferred means of managing and controlling wildlife. This section shall not be construed to modify any provision of law relating to trespass, property rights, or the regulation of commercial activities.

§255a | PERSONAL RIGHT TO HUNT, FISH, AND HARVEST WILDLIFE – LIMITATIONS

Amendments to this Constitution may be proposed in either House of the General Assembly at a regular session, and if such amendment or amendments shall be agreed to by three-fifths of all the members elected to each House, such proposed amendment or amendments, with the yeas and nays of the members of each House taken thereon, shall be entered in full in their respective journals. Then such proposed amendment or amendments shall be submitted to the voters of the State for their ratification or rejection at the next general election for members of the House of Representatives, the vote to be taken thereon in such manner as the General Assembly may provide, and to be certified by the officers of election to the Secretary of State in such manner as shall be provided by law, which vote shall be compared and certified by the same board authorized by law to compare the polls and give certificates of election to officers for the State at large. If it shall appear that a majority of the votes cast for and against an amendment at said election was for the amendment, then the same shall become a part of the Constitution of this Commonwealth, and shall be so proclaimed by the Governor, and published in such manner as the General Assembly may direct. Said amendments shall not be submitted at an election which occurs less than ninety days from the final passage of such proposed amendment or amendments.

Not more than four amendments shall be voted upon at any one time. If two or more amendments shall be submitted at the same time, they shall be submitted in such manner that the electors shall vote for or against each of such amendments separately, but an amendment may relate to a single subject or to related subject matters and may amend or modify as many articles and as many sections of the Constitution as may be necessary and appropriate in order to accomplish the objectives of the amendment. The approval of the Governor shall not be necessary to any bill, order, resolution or vote of the General Assembly, proposing an amendment or amendments to this Constitution.

Congratulations! You're now booked up on Article XVIII of the Kentucky Constitution!

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Perhaps it'll [even] help you navigate through your state's administrative gauntlet. A gauntlet which might include – but not be limited to:

Nevertheless – and as always – please get the justice you deserve.

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Text as Ratified on:	Aug. 3, 1891, and revised Sept. 28, 1891.
History:	Not yet amended.

Text as Ratified on:	Nov. 3, 1992.
History:	1992 amendment was proposed by 1992 Ky. Acts ch. 168, sec. 1; original version ratified Aug. 3, 1891, and revised Sept. 28, 1891.

Text as Ratified on:	Nov. 3, 1992.
History:	1992 amendment was proposed by 1992 Ky. Acts ch. 168, sec. 7; original version ratified Aug. 3, 1891, and revised Sept. 28, 1891.

Text as Ratified on:	Nov. 5, 1935.
History:	Repeal was proposed by 1934 Ky. Acts ch. 58, sec. 1; creation proposed by 1918 Ky. Acts ch. 63, sec. 1, and ratified on Nov. 4, 1919, effective July 1, 1920.

KENTUCKY CONSTITUTIONARTICLE XVIIIGENERAL PROVISIONS

§224 | BONDS – WHAT OFFICERS TO GIVE – LIABILITY ON

§225 | ARMED MEN NOT TO BE BROUGHT INTO STATE – EXCEPTION

§226 | STATE LOTTERY – CHARITABLE LOTTERIES AND CHARITABLE GIFT ENTERPRISES – OTHER LOTTERIES AND GIFT ENTERPRISES FORBIDDEN

§226a | (REPEALED 1935)

§227 | PROSECUTION AND REMOVAL OF LOCAL OFFICERS FOR MISFEASANCE, MALFEASANCE, OR NEGLECT

§228 | OATH OF OFFICERS AND ATTORNEYS

§229 | TREASON DEFINED – EVIDENCE NECESSARY TO CONVICT

§230 | MONEY NOT TO BE DRAWN FROM TREASURY UNLESS APPROPRIATED – ANNUAL PUBLICATION OF AGeneral ProvisionsOUNTS – CERTAIN REVENUES USABLE ONLY FOR HIGHWAY PURPOSES

§231 | SUITS AGAINST THE COMMONWEALTH

§232 | MANNER OF ADMINISTERING OATH

§233 | GENERAL LAWS OF VIRGINIA IN FORCE IN THIS STATE UNTIL REPEALED

§233A | VALID OR RECOGNIZED MARRIAGE - LEGAL STATUS OF UNMARRIED INDIVIDUALS

§234 | RESIDENCE AND PLACE OF OFFICE OF PUBLIC OFFICERS

§235 | SALARIES OF PUBLIC OFFICERS NOT TO BE CHANGED DURING TERM – DEDUCTIONS FOR NEGLECT

§236 | WHEN OFFICERS TO ENTER UPON DUTIES

§237 | FEDERAL OFFICE INCOMPATIBLE WITH STATE OFFICE

§238 | DISCHARGE OF SURETIES ON OFFICERS’ BONDS

§239 | DISQUALIFICATION FROM OFFICE FOR PRESENTING OR AGeneral ProvisionsEPTING CHALLENGE TO DUEL – FURTHER PUNISHMENT

§240 | PARDON OF PERSON CONVICTED OF DUELING

§241 | RECOVERY FOR WRONGFUL DEATH

§242 | JUST COMPENSATION TO BE MADE IN CONDEMNING PRIVATE PROPERTY – RIGHT OF APPEAL – JURY TRIAL

§243 | CHILD LABOR

§244 | WAGE-EARNERS IN INDUSTRY OR OF CORPORATIONS TO BE PAID IN MONEY

§244a | OLD AGE ASSISTANCE

§245 | REVISION OF STATUTES TO CONFORM TO CONSTITUTION

§246 | MAXIMUM LIMIT ON COMPENSATION OF PUBLIC OFFICERS

§247 | PUBLIC PRINTING – CONTRACT FOR – OFFICERS NOT TO HAVE INTEREST IN – GOVERNOR TO APPROVE

§248 | JURIES – NUMBER OF JURORS – THREE-FOURTHS MAY INDICT OR GIVE VERDICT

§249 | EMPLOYEES OF GENERAL ASSEMBLY – NUMBER AND COMPENSATION

§250 | ARBITRATION, METHOD FOR TO BE PROVIDED

§251 | LIMITATION OF ACTIONS TO RECOVER POSSESSION OF LAND BASED ON EARLY PATENTS

§252 | HOUSES OF REFORM TO BE ESTABLISHED AND MAINTAINED

§253 | WORKING OF PENITENTIARY PRISONERS – WHEN AND WHERE PERMITTED

§254 | CONTROL AND SUPPORT OF CONVICTS – LEASING OF LABOR

§255 | FRANKFORT IS STATE CAPITAL

§255a | PERSONAL RIGHT TO HUNT, FISH, AND HARVEST WILDLIFE – LIMITATIONS

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