Title XXI, Agriculture and Animals

The Commissioner may appoint a competent person as state apiarist, and such number of deputy state apiarists as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of KRS 252.180 to 252.240, and fix their compensation. The state apiarist and deputy state apiarists shall be vested with t…

(1) The Kentucky beekeeping fund is hereby established in the State Treasury as a separate trust and agency account to be administered by the Department of Agriculture. (2) Moneys in this fund shall be used to help improve, promote, protect, and support the beekeeping industry in…

bees, hives, etc. -- Reporting and publication of information -- Registration fees -- Failure to comply a violation of statutes. (1) The Commissioner may make and enforce such rules and orders as in his judgment may be necessary to control, eradicate or prevent the introduction, …

For the purposes of KRS 252.180 to 252.240 the Commissioner may establish and maintain quarantines prohibiting the shipment into or within the state, or any subdivision thereof of any bees, queen bees, used hives or any part thereof, used appliances or any material capable of tra…

(1) Any person in interest or affected by any order of the Commissioner or state apiarist may appeal therefrom to the Commissioner within five (5) days of the service of the order upon him setting forth in writing specifically and in full detail the order on which a hearing is de…

For the purposes of KRS 252.180 to 252.240 the Commissioner or his duly authorized representatives shall have access and egress to any apiary or any premises, buildings or other place, public or private, in which he has reason to believe that bees, honey, wax, used hives or used …

Any person violating any of the provisions of KRS 252.180 to 252.240 shall be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars ($100). In addition to the penalty hereinbefore provided, bees or combs, used hives, or other used apiary appliances brought into this state in vi…

As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires: (1) "Board" means the State Board of Agriculture; (2) "Brand" means a permanent identification mark of which the letters, numbers and figures used are each three (3) inches or more in length or diameter and are human…

The board shall approve brands for registration and issue certificates of approval, and shall serve as an adjudicating committee in the matter of deciding and determining conflicts of brands and its decision shall be final. It shall publish a state report containing a facsimile o…

The board is the legal custodian of any county record that may have been maintained under prior programs and shall upon request furnish a certified copy of the record of any brand appearing in the county brand record books and shall charge a fee of one dollar ($1) for each such b…

Any application for the registration of a mark or brand with the board shall be on a form prescribed by the board and shall be accompanied by a fee of ten dollars ($10) for each mark or brand to be registered. Any such application for a brand shall show the brand location to the …

The board shall publish at such times as it deems necessary a report of the brands that have been registered. Every five (5) years thereafter all brands shall be reregistered. The Commissioner shall notify each brand owner and provide the necessary forms. A reregistration fee of …

Brands appearing in the current edition of the state report, or supplements thereto, shall be prima facie evidence of ownership and take precedence over brands of like and kind should the question of ownership arise. An owner whose brand does not appear in the state report, or a …

Any peace officer of the state may order funds derived from the sale of livestock of questionable ownership held until ownership is established. If ownership is not established within thirty (30) days, the person holding the funds shall remit them to the board, which shall hold t…

There is hereby reserved to the State of Kentucky the brands of "B" and "T" on the jaw of cattle, and "V" and "AV" on the body, and it shall be unlawful for any person other than authorized agents of the State Board of Agriculture to use any of these brands. Cattle carrying the "…

Only brands appearing in the current edition of the state report, or a supplement thereto, shall be subject to sale, assignment, transfer, devise or bequest. The transfer of title must be recorded with the Commissioner. The fee for recording the transfer of title is one dollar ($…

All persons selling livestock branded with their brand, or brand and mark, recorded in a current state report or a supplement thereto, shall, upon request of a purchaser of such livestock, execute a written transfer of ownership to the purchaser.

Except as otherwise provided in this chapter and except as may be directed by the board, the powers, duties, and functions vested by this chapter in the board shall be exercised and performed by the Commissioner. The board may promulgate administrative regulations and hold admini…

All fees charged and collected under the provisions of this chapter shall be deposited in the State Department of Agriculture trust fund.

Any person who knowingly places upon any livestock a mark or brand which has not been registered with the board shall, if such mark or brand duplicates one that is registered with the board, be guilty of a misdemeanor. Such duplication shall be the use of a similar brand, used in…

Any person who knowingly alters or defaces the marks or brands on any livestock not his own, without the consent of the owner, shall be fined not more than two hundred dollars ($200), or imprisoned for not more than six (6) months, or both. Effective:June 29, 2017

(1) "Lawful fence" means: (a) A strong and sound fence, four (4) feet high, so close that cattle cannot creep through, made of rails, or plank, or wire and plank, or iron, or hedge, or stone or brick; or (b) A ditch three (3) feet deep and three (3) feet broad, with a hedge two (…

(1) Persons owning adjoining lands may agree to erect division fences between them and keep them in repair. (2) If the agreement is reduced to writing, signed by the parties to it and acknowledged or proven, as deeds are required to be, it may be entered of record in the office o…

livestock. (1) When a division fence exists by agreement, acquiescence or compulsion, under this section or KRS 256.042, each party shall keep a lawful fence on his portion of the line. If one party fails to do so, the person failing shall be liable for all the damages to trees, …

fence -- Apportionment of cost -- Enforcement of lien. (1) The District Court shall have exclusive jurisdiction over all actions arising under this section or KRS 256.030. (2) The owner of a parcel of real estate used for agricultural purposes may file an action in the District C…

KRS 256.030 and 256.042 shall be cited as the Kentucky Boundary Line Fence Act.

250.060 Repealed, 1988. Catchline at repeal: Notice required prior to removal of fence.

livestock. If any livestock enter into any land over or through a lawful fence, the owner or manager of the livestock shall for the first trespass be liable to the owner or occupant of that land for damages to his or her trees, grass, grain, crops, livestock or land as he or she …

land. If the owner or bailee of livestock has a lawful fence, and his or her livestock break through or over the fence and upon the premises of another which are not enclosed by a lawful fence, he or she shall not be responsible for the first trespass, but shall be liable for all…

A railroad shall be on equal terms and obligations with other landowners owning adjoining lands in this state.

Except as otherwise provided in KRS 256.130, 256.160 and 256.170, every railroad shall construct and maintain a good lawful fence on one-half (1/2) of the distance of the division line between its right-of-way and the adjoining lands, and every owner of lands adjoining the right-…

(1) When a railroad or the owner of lands adjoining the railroad right-of-way constructs a good lawful fence on the division line between the right-of-way and the lands adjoining the right-of-way for one-half (1/2) the length of the line, and the other party has not constructed t…

When the owner of any lands, or any immediate or remote grantor or vendor of the owner, has given to a railroad, after February 25, 1893, a right-of-way through the lands free of charge, the entire fencing on the division lines between such lands and the right- of-way of the rail…

Any landowner who has already erected a lawful fence along the whole distance of the division line between his land and the right-of-way of a railroad may, in the absence of any agreement to the contrary, move one-half (1/2) of the fence, after giving three (3) months' notice to …

All railroads shall erect and maintain cattle guards at all terminal points of fences constructed along their lines, except at points where the lines are not required to be fenced on both sides, and at public crossings. Where there is a private passway across the railroad, the la…

KRS 256.100 to 256.170 shall not: (1) Apply in any case where any railroad has furnished the material to construct a fence or condemned its right-of-way, and paid the owner or his vendor damages, in the estimation of which the cost of fencing was taken into consideration; (2) App…

Where the lands or rights-of-way of two (2) railroads adjoin and run parallel with no tillable or grazing lands between their rights-of-way, the railroad need not build any fence along its side next to the other railroad, unless the other railroad has first built its half along t…

Any person who violates subsection (3) of KRS 256.120 shall be fined one dollar ($1) for each day, after the expiration of the time in which the fence should have been constructed, until the fence is constructed.

As used in this chapter, unless the context requires otherwise: (1) "Abandon" means to forsake entirely, or to neglect or refuse to provide or perform the legal obligations for care and support of an animal by its owner or his agent; (2) "Board" means the Board of Agriculture; (3…

The board shall: (1) Enforce the provisions of this chapter; (2) Adopt and enforce measures as it deems necessary to protect and promote the livestock, poultry, fish, and animal industries. Measures falling within the scope of KRS 257.196 shall be adopted and enforced in conformi…

The board may: (1) Cooperate with universities and other entities in conducting the necessary scientific investigations relating to the cause, nature, prevention, and treatment of communicable diseases of livestock, poultry, and fish; (2) Establish, maintain, and enforce any quar…

No person who has in his possession any domestic animal infected with a reportable disease shall: (1) Permit such an animal to run at large; (2) Keep such an animal where other domestic animals, not affected with or previously exposed to the disease, may become infected with or e…

No person shall willfully obstruct, evade or disregard any quarantine which the board declares, or violate any regulation for the prevention of the spread of communicable diseases among livestock, poultry, and fish, or conceal or attempt to conceal an animal infected with or expo…

(1) Except upon permission or approval from the state veterinarian, no person shall: (a) Transport or in any other way bring into this state an animal that is infected with a communicable disease or that has within the previous thirty (30) days been exposed to a communicable dise…

(1) The movement of domestic animals from other states into this state shall be made only in compliance with regulations of the board. (2) Any animal brought into this state in violation of any regulation of the board shall: (a) Be placed in quarantine until the necessary inspect…

Every veterinarian, laboratory, owner, or person having knowledge of the existence of any reportable disease of livestock, poultry, or fish within the state shall immediately report the disease to the state veterinarian. The department shall promulgate administrative regulations …

"Abandonment" defined. (1) Any peace officer, animal control officer, or any person authorized by the board may destroy or kill or cause to be destroyed or killed, any animal found abandoned and suffering and not properly cared for, or appearing to be injured, diseased, or suffer…

(1) In addition to KRS 257.100 or any other provision authorized by law, any unclaimed animal held by a licensed veterinarian for more than ten (10) days of veterinary care and treatment requested by the owner or lawful possessor of the animal may be summarily sold by the veterin…

When the board or any of its authorized agents determines that any domestic animal is infected with or exposed to any communicable disease and that to prevent the spread of disease it is necessary to destroy or slaughter that animal, the animal shall be destroyed or slaughtered, …

(1) Indemnities shall be paid by the state or federal government for animals mandated to be destroyed or slaughtered on account of a reportable or United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) program disease. The indemnities shall be based on fair market value as determined by …