KRS 186.160: Motor numbers essential to registration -- Assignment of number.

No clerk shall receive an application for registration nor register a motor vehicle, unless

the motor vehicle bears a motor number or a vehicle identification number. If there is no

motor number or vehicle identification number, or if the number is not plainly legible, the

owner shall apply through the clerk to the Transportation Cabinet for a motor number or

vehicle identification number, and when that number is assigned to the owner's motor

vehicle the owner shall cause the number to be stamped on the motor with a steel die or in

the space provided by manufacturer for vehicle identification number. That number shall

thereafter be used by the owner in making registration or executing a bill of sale.