{"data":{"id":"us-ky/kre-506","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRE 506","heading":"Counselor-client privilege.","body":"(a) Definitions. As used in this rule:\n(1) A \"counselor\" includes:\n(A) A certified school counselor who meets the requirements of the\nKentucky Board of Education and who is duly appointed and regularly\nemployed for the purpose of counseling in a public or private school of\nthis state;\n(B) A sexual assault counselor, who is a person engaged in a rape crisis\ncenter, as defined in KRS Chapter 421, who has undergone forty (40)\nhours of training and is under the control of a direct services supervisor\nof a rape crisis center, whose primary purpose is the rendering of advice,\ncounseling, or assistance to victims of sexual assault;\n(C) A certified professional art therapist who is engaged to conduct art\ntherapy under KRS 309.130 to 309.1399;\n(D) A licensed marriage and family therapist as defined in KRS 335 .300\nwho is engaged to conduct marriage and family therapy pursuant to KRS\n335.300 to 335.399;\n(E) A licensed professional clinical counselor or a licensed professional\ncounselor associate as defined in KRS 335.500;\n(F) An individual who provides crisis re sponse services as a member of the\ncommunity crisis response team or local community crisis response team\nunder KRS 36.250 to 36.270;\n(G) A victim advocate as defined in KRS 421.570 except a victim advocate\nwho is employed by a Commonwealth's attorney under KRS 15.760 or a\ncounty attorney pursuant to KRS 69.350; and\n(H) A Kentucky licensed pastoral counselor as defined in KRS 335.605 who\nis engaged to conduct pastoral counseling under KRS 335.600 to\n335.699.\n(2) A \"client\" is a person who consults or is int erviewed or assisted by a\ncounselor for the purpose of obtaining professional or crisis response services\nfrom the counselor.\n(3) A communication is \"confidential\" if it is not intended to be disclosed to third\npersons, except persons present to further th e interest of the client in the\nconsultation or interview, persons reasonably necessary for the transmission of\nthe communication, or persons present during the communication at the\ndirection of the counselor, including members of the client's family.\n(b) General rule of privilege. A client has a privilege to refuse to disclose and to\nprevent any other person from disclosing confidential communications made for the\npurpose of counseling the client, between himself, his counselor, and persons\npresent at the direction of the counselor, including members of the client's family.\n(c) Who may claim the privilege. The privilege may be claimed by the client, his\nguardian or conservator, or the personal representative of a deceased client. The\nperson who was the counselor (or that person's employer) may claim the privilege in\nthe absence of the client, but only on behalf of the client.\n(d) Exceptions.  There is no privilege under this rule for any relevant communication:\n(1) If the client is asserting his physical, me ntal, or emotional condition as an\nelement of a claim or defense; or, after the client's death, in any proceeding in\nwhich any party relies upon the condition as an element of a claim or defense.\n(2) If the judge finds:\n(A) That the substance of the communication is relevant to an essential issue\nin the case;\n(B) That there are no available alternate means to obtain the substantial\nequivalent of the communication; and\n(C) That the need for the information outweighs the interest protected by the\nprivilege. T he court may receive evidence in camera to make findings\nunder this rule.","path":["KENTUCKY RULES OF EVIDENCE ----- Legislative Research Commission Note (7/1/92). Although denominated \"rules,\" the elements of the Kentucky Rules of Evidence were enacted as statutes by the Kentucky General Assembly. See 1990 Ky. Acts ch. 88; 1992 Ky. Acts ch. 324. Originally codified as KRS Chapter 422A in 1990, the Kentucky Rules of Evidence were renumbered by the Reviser of Statutes, effective July 1, 1992, pursuant to 1992 Ky. Acts ch. 324, sec. 34. By an order dated May 12, 1992, the Kentucky Supreme Court \"adopt[ed] so much of the Kentucky Rules of Evidence as enacted by HB 241 [1992 Ky. Acts ch. 324] as comes within the rule making power of the Court, pursuant to Ky. Const. sec. 116.\""],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=43273","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T21:00:10Z","sha256":"88eadac7fe3aff71bee4e92f93529e7a988154d29c0635541606b239f2daf284","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/kre-505","next":"us-ky/kre-507"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}