KentuckySB 1362025 Regular SessionSenateWALLET

AN ACT relating to transportation and declaring an emergency.

How does this bill affect your finances?

Personalize government policy and PRIA will tell you what this bill means for your household, plus every other piece of legislation we track. PRIA reads each provision against your financial profile to show you exactly what matters to your wallet.

Free to download

Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

13 provisions identified: 6 benefits, 4 costs, 3 mixed.

Boat owners gain another title option

A county clerk can accept an ownership affidavit for a motorboat title application. The boat's registration must show that no title has been issued. The clerk is allowed, but not required, to accept the affidavit.

Electronic filings simplify vehicle lien records

Vehicle liens and lien releases can be sent through Kentucky's electronic title system. Qualifying electronic signatures on title lien statements must be accepted without notarization. The Cabinet can notify the first lienholder electronically about added liens, and certified electronic records are evidence in state proceedings. The state must remove liens that expire without renewal from its title records. A clean title still requires every remaining lien to be satisfied.

Fewer delays for vehicle title applicants

County clerks must process vehicle applications and send them to the Transportation Cabinet within three business days. The electronic system is not fully implemented while clerks must manually enter application data into the state vehicle database. After full implementation, clerks must accept and forward or reject and return electronic applications by 3 p.m. the next business day. A previous owner's unpaid vehicle property taxes cannot block your title and registration when that owner is outside the transaction. That exception does not erase the previous owner's tax debt.

Some counties gain monthly driving tests

Kentucky State Police can run a skills-testing pilot in up to 10 counties from September 1, 2024, through June 30, 2026. Selected counties must lack permanent, full-time State Police driver testing. Selection depends on public demand and available State Police resources. Participating counties must offer testing at least monthly, only for county residents applying for an intermediate license.

Accepted price guides govern damaged-vehicle values

Insurers must use nationally accepted used-car guides or tools when valuing damaged vehicles under these title rules. The insurance commissioner must identify the required tools by July 1, 2025, through emergency and ordinary regulations. Until those selections take effect, insurers must use an accepted tool available to them. The selected tools replace Revenue Department benchmarks for destroyed-vehicle and trailer repair tests and the listed 75% salvage and hail-damage tests. The law does not guarantee a higher vehicle value or claim payment.

Dealer buyers get 60-day temporary tags

Kentucky-licensed dealers must provide a temporary tag when selling a vehicle for highway use in Kentucky or another state. The tag lasts 60 days from delivery to the buyer.

Vehicle owners face new identification requirements

Your first vehicle title or registration application must include a current Kentucky or other-state operator's license. Registration applications require either a Kentucky operator's license number or a Social Security number. Nonresident owners must provide both their Social Security number and out-of-state license number for vehicles based and mainly operated in Kentucky.

Military surplus owners need title inspections

Military surplus vehicle owners must get a certified inspection before submitting a Kentucky title application to the county clerk. The inspection covers the vehicle, application, and supporting documents. The Transportation Cabinet can require changes before inspection, but its regulations can require only applicable federal vehicle safety standards.

Businesses must use tax identification numbers

Businesses licensed by the Kentucky Secretary of State must use their Federal Employer Identification Number for vehicle titles and registrations. This applies to vehicles the business owns.

Vehicle lenders must manage liens electronically

Beginning July 1, 2026, regular vehicle-financing businesses must use Kentucky's electronic title system to confirm, release, and manage liens and documents. Lienholders outside that business are not required to participate. The Transportation Cabinet can also exempt lienholders.

New transfer rules for joint vehicle owners

A surviving spouse pays no state-required transfer fees for a jointly owned vehicle. The new-title application must include a death certificate copy. Joint titles must use “AND” or “OR,” not “AND/OR.” Transfers require every owner's signature for “AND” titles, but only one signature for “OR” titles. Older “AND/OR” titles require every owner's signature unless a court directs otherwise.

Pacific island migrants gain license options

Eligible nonimmigrants admitted under compacts with the Marshall Islands, Palau, or the Federated States of Micronesia gain standard-license and ID options. They can also apply for voluntary travel IDs and must meet federal REAL ID recognition requirements. Beginning July 1, 2025, the standard permit and license path requires an unexpired home-country passport plus an I-94, I-766, or I-797 number. Eligible travel ID applicants can use those documents beginning July 1, 2025; other application requirements remain. Personal ID applicants must be Kentucky residents and apply in person or through alternative technology.

Dealers get simpler used four-wheeler transfers

Dealers can hold qualifying used all-terrain vehicles for resale without getting a new certificate of title. The vehicle must have been registered or titled in Kentucky or another state. Dealers must notify the county clerk of the assignment and pay the transferor fee within 15 days after acquisition.

Sponsors & Cosponsors

Sponsor

Jimmy Higdon
Republican • Senate

Cosponsors

Donald Douglas
Republican • Senate
D. Yates
Affiliation unavailable

Roll Call Votes

All Roll Calls

Yes: 162 • No: 1

Senate vote • 3/14/2025

passed

Yes: 34 • No: 1

House vote • 3/13/2025

3rd reading, passed

Yes: 90 • No: 0

Senate vote • 3/4/2025