Kentucky Revised Statutes, Chapter 505 — Protection Against Unfair or Oppressive Prosecution

Title L — Kentucky Penal Code

Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session.

The KRS database was last updated on 2026-09-01.

Title L Kentucky Penal Code

Chapter 505 Protection Against Unfair or Oppressive Prosecution

505.010 Entrapment.

(1) A person is not guilty of an offense arising out of proscribed conduct when:

(a) He was induced or encouraged to engage in that conduct by a public servant or by a person acting in cooperation with a public servant seeking to obtain evidence against him for the purpose of criminal prosecution; and

(b) At the time of the inducement or encouragement, he was not otherwise disposed to engage in such conduct.

(2) The relief afforded by subsection (1) is unavailable when:

(a) The public servant or the person acting in cooperation with a public servant merely affords the defendant an opportunity to commit an offense; or

(b) The offense charged has physical injury or the threat of physical injury as one

(1) of its elements and the prosecution is based on conduct causing or threatening such injury to a person other than the person perpetrating the entrapment.

(3) The relief provided a defendant by subsection (1) is a defense.

Effective: January 1, 1975

History: Created 1974 Ky. Acts ch. 406, sec. 43, effective January 1, 1975.

505.020 Prosecution for multiple offenses.

(1) When a single course of conduct of a defendant may establish the commission of more than one (1) offense, he may be prosecuted for each such offense. He may not, however, be convicted of more than one (1) offense when:

(a) One offense is included in the other, as defined in subsection (2); or

(b) Inconsistent findings of fact are required to establish the commission of the offenses; or

(c) The offense is designed to prohibit a continuing course of conduct and the defendant's course of conduct was uninterrupted by legal process, unless the law expressly provides that specific periods of such conduct constitute separate offenses.

(2) A defendant may be convicted of an offense that is included in any offense with which he is formally charged. An offense is so included when:

(a) It is established by proof of the same or less than all the facts required to establish the commission of the offense charged; or

(b) It consists of an attempt to commit the offense charged or to commit an offense otherwise included therein; or

(c) It differs from the offense charged only in the respect that a lesser kind of culpability suffices to establish its commission; or

(d) It differs from the offense charged only in the respect that a less serious injury or risk of injury to the same person, property or public interest suffices to establish its commission.

Effective: January 1, 1975

History: Created 1974 Ky. Acts ch. 406, sec. 44, effective January 1, 1975.

505.030 Effect of former prosecution for same offense.

When a prosecution is for a violation of the same statutory provision and is based upon the same facts as a former prosecution, it is barred by the former prosecution under the following circumstances:

(1) The former prosecution resulted in:

(a) An acquittal, or

(b) A conviction which has not subsequently been set aside; or

(2) The former prosecution resulted in a determination by the court that there was insufficient evidence to warrant a conviction; or

(3) The former prosecution was terminated by a final order or judgment, which has not subsequently been set aside, and which required a determination inconsistent with any fact or legal proposition necessary to a conviction in the subsequent prosecution; or

(4) The former prosecution was improperly terminated after the first witness was sworn but before findings were rendered by a trier of fact. Termination under either of the following circumstances is not improper:

(a) The defendant expressly consents to the termination or by motion for mistrial or in some other manner waives his right to object to the termination; or

(b) The trial court, in exercise of its discretion, finds that the termination is manifestly necessary.

Effective: January 1, 1975

History: Created 1974 Ky. Acts ch. 406, sec. 45, effective January 1, 1975.

505.040 Effects of former prosecution for different offenses.

Although a prosecution is for a violation of a different statutory provision from a former prosecution or for a violation of the same provision but based on different facts, it is barred by the former prosecution under the following circumstances:

(1) The former prosecution resulted in an acquittal, a conviction which has not subsequently been set aside, or a determination that there was insufficient evidence to warrant a conviction, and the subsequent prosecution is for:

(a) An offense of which the defendant could have been convicted at the first prosecution; or

(b) An offense involving the same conduct as the first prosecution, unless each prosecution requires proof of a fact not required in the other prosecution or unless the offense was not consummated when the former prosecution began; or

(2) The former prosecution was terminated by a final order or judgment which has not subsequently been set aside and which required a determination inconsistent with any fact necessary to a conviction in the subsequent prosecution; or

(3) The former prosecution was improperly terminated, as that term is used in subsection (4) of KRS 505.030, and the subsequent prosecution is for an offense of which the defendant could have been convicted had the former prosecution not been improperly terminated.

Effective: January 1, 1975

History: Created 1974 Ky. Acts ch. 406, sec. 46, effective January 1, 1975.

505.050 Effects of former prosecution in another jurisdiction.

When conduct constitutes an offense within the concurrent jurisdiction of this state and of the United States or another state, a prosecution in such other jurisdiction is a bar to a subsequent prosecution in this state under the following circumstances:

(1) The former prosecution resulted in an acquittal, a conviction which has not subsequently been set aside, or a determination that there was insufficient evidence to warrant a conviction, and the subsequent prosecution is for an offense involving the same conduct unless:

(a) Each prosecution requires proof of a fact not required in the other prosecution; or

(b) The offense involved in the subsequent prosecution was not consummated when the former prosecution began; or

(2) The former prosecution was terminated in a final order or judgment which has not subsequently been set aside and which required a determination inconsistent with any fact necessary to a conviction in the subsequent prosecution.

Effective: January 1, 1975

History: Created 1974 Ky. Acts ch. 406, sec. 47, effective January 1, 1975.

505.060 Effects of fraudulent prosecution or lack of jurisdiction.

A prosecution is not barred, as provided in KRS 505.030, 505.040 and 505.050 if the former prosecution:

(1) Was procured by the defendant without the knowledge of the proper prosecuting officer and with the purpose of avoiding the sentence which otherwise might be imposed; or

(2) Was before a court which lacked jurisdiction over the defendant or the offense.

Effective: January 1, 1975

History: Created 1974 Ky. Acts ch. 406, sec. 48, effective January 1, 1975.