{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-121.150","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 121.150","heading":"Campaign contribution restrictions and expenditure limitations.","body":"(1) No contribution shall be made or received, directly or indirectly, other than an\nindependent expenditure, to support inauguration activities or to support or defeat a\ncandidate, slate of candidates, constitutional amendment, or public question which\nwill appear on the ballot in an election, except through the duly appointed campaign\nmanager, or campaign treasurer of the candidate, slate of candidates, or registered\ncommittee. Any person making an independent expenditure, shall report these\nexpenditures when the expenditures by that person exceed five hundred dollars\n($500) in the aggregate in any one (1) election, on a form provided or using a\nformat approved by the registr y and shall sign a statement on the form, under\npenalty of perjury, that the expenditure was an actual independent expenditure and\nthat there was no prior communication with the campaign on whose behalf it was\nmade.\n(2) Except as provided in KRS 121.180(10 ), the solicitation from and contributions by\ncampaign committees, independent expenditure -only committees, caucus campaign\ncommittees, political issues committees, permanent committees, and party\nexecutive committees to any religious, charitable, civic, e leemosynary, or other\ncauses or organizations established primarily for the public good is expressly\nprohibited; except that it shall not be construed as a violation of this section for:\n(a) A candidate or a slate of candidates to contribute to religious, civic, or\ncharitable groups; or\n(b) A state or county executive committee of a political party to contribute up to\none hundred dollars ($100) per year to a nonprofit civic organization if the\norganization promotes civic education, voter registration effort s, or patriotic\nevents.\n(3) No candidate, slate of candidates, committee, or contributing organization, nor\nanyone acting on their behalf, shall accept any anonymous contribution in excess of\ntwo hundred dollars ($200), and all anonymous contributions in e xcess of two\nhundred dollars ($200) shall be returned to the donor, if the donor can be\ndetermined. If no donor is found, the contribution shall escheat to the state. No\ncandidate, slate of candidates, committee, or contributing organization, nor anyone\nacting on their behalf shall accept anonymous contributions in excess of two\nthousand dollars ($2,000) in the aggregate in any one (1) election. Anonymous\ncontributions in excess of two thousand dollars ($2,000) in the aggregate which are\nreceived in any one (1) election shall escheat to the state.\n(4) No candidate, slate of candidates, committee, or contributing organization, nor\nanyone on their behalf, shall accept a cash contribution in excess of two hundred\ndollars ($200) in the aggregate from each contri butor in any one (1) election. No\ncandidate, slate of candidates, committee, or contributing organization, nor anyone\non their behalf, shall accept a cashier's check or money order in excess of the\nmaximum cash contribution limit unless the instrument clea rly identifies both the\npayor and the payee. A contribution made by cashier's check or money order which\nidentifies both the payor and payee shall be treated as a contribution made by check\nfor purposes of the contribution limits contained in this section.  No person shall\nmake a cash contribution in excess of two hundred dollars ($200) in the aggregate\nin any one (1) election to a candidate, slate of candidates, committee, or\ncontributing organization, nor anyone on their behalf.\n(5) No candidate, slate of candidates, committee, contributing organization, nor anyone\non their behalf, shall accept any contribution in excess of two hundred dollars\n($200) from any person who shall not become eighteen (18) years of age on or\nbefore the day of the next general election.\n(6) Except as provided in subsection (22) of this section, no candidate, slate of\ncandidates, campaign committee, nor anyone acting on their behalf, shall accept a\ncontribution in an amount that is greater than the contribution limit applicable to\nfederal candidates and principal campaign committees established by 52 U.S.C. sec.\n30116(a)(1)(A), as indexed for inflation every odd -numbered year by the Federal\nElection Commission pursuant to 52 U.S.C. sec. 30116(c), from any person,\npermanent committee,  or contributing organization in any one (1) election. No\nperson, permanent committee, or contributing organization shall contribute an\namount that is greater than the contribution limit applicable to federal candidates\nand principal campaign committees es tablished by 52 U.S.C. sec. 30116(a)(1)(A),\nas indexed for inflation every odd -numbered year by the Federal Election\nCommission pursuant to 52 U.S.C. sec. 30116(c), to any one (1) candidate,\ncampaign committee, nor anyone acting on their behalf, in any one (1) election.\n(7) Permanent committees or contributing organizations affiliated by bylaw structure or\nby registration, as determined by the Registry of Election Finance, shall be\nconsidered as one (1) committee for purposes of applying the contribution li mits of\nsubsection (6) of this section.\n(8) No permanent committee shall contribute funds to another permanent committee for\nthe purpose of circumventing contribution limits of subsection (6) of this section. A\npermanent committee or independent expenditur e-only committee may make\nunlimited contributions to an independent expenditure -only committee, or as\nallowed by federal law to a federally registered political committee, provided that if\na contribution is earmarked for a particular independent expenditur e, the person\nmaking the independent expenditure shall disclose the contribution when reporting\nthe independent expenditure pursuant to subsection (1) of this section.\n(9) No person shall contribute funds to a permanent committee, political issues\ncommittee, or contributing organization for the purpose of circumventing the\ncontribution limits of subsection (6) of this section.\n(10) No person shall contribute an amount that i s greater than the contribution limit\napplicable to federal candidates and principal campaign committees established by\n52 U.S.C. sec. 30116(a)(1)(A), as indexed for inflation every odd-numbered year by\nthe Federal Election Commission pursuant to 52 U.S.C.  sec. 30116(c), to a\npermanent committee or contributing organization in any one (1) year.\n(11) (a) No person shall contribute more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) to the\nstate executive committee of a political party in any one (1) year. The\ncontribution limit in this paragraph shall not apply to a contribution\ndesignated exclusively for a state executive committee's building fund account\nestablished under KRS 121.172.\n(b) No person shall contribute more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) to a\nsubdivision or affiliate of a state political party in any one (1) year.\n(c) No person shall contribute more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) to a\ncaucus campaign committee in any one (1) year.\n(12) No person shall make a payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit, or gift of\nmoney to another person to contribute to a candidate, a slate of candidates,\ncommittee, contributing organization, or anyone on their behalf. No candidate, slate\nof candidates, committee, contributing organization, nor anyone on their b ehalf\nshall accept a contribution made by one (1) person who has received a payment,\ndistribution, loan, advance, deposit, or gift of money from another person to\ncontribute to a candidate, a slate of candidates, committee, contributing\norganization, or anyone on their behalf.\n(13) Subject to the provisions of subsection (17) of this section, no candidate or slate of\ncandidates for nomination to any state, county, city, or district office, nor their\ncampaign committees, nor anyone on their behalf, shall sol icit or accept\ncontributions for primary election expenses after the date of the primary. No person\nother than the candidate or slate of candidates shall contribute for primary election\nexpenses after the date of the primary.\n(14) Subject to the provisions  of subsection (17) of this section, no candidate or slate of\ncandidates for any state, county, city, or district office at a regular election, nor their\ncampaign committees, nor anyone on their behalf, shall solicit or accept\ncontributions for regular election expenses after the date of the regular election. No\nperson other than the candidate or slate of candidates shall contribute for regular\nelection expenses after the date of the regular election.\n(15) Subject to the provisions of subsection (17) of thi s section, no candidate or slate of\ncandidates for nomination or election to any state, county, city, or district office,\nnor their campaign committees, nor anyone on their behalf, shall solicit or accept\ncontributions for special election expenses after t he date of the special election. No\nperson other than the candidate or slate of candidates shall contribute for special\nelection expenses after the date of the special election.\n(16) The provisions of subsections (13) and (14) of this section shall apply o nly to those\ncandidates in a primary or regular election which shall be conducted subsequent to\nJanuary 1, 1989. The provisions of subsection (15) of this section shall apply only\nto those candidates or slates of candidates in a special election which shal l be\nconducted subsequent to January 1, 1993.\n(17) A candidate, slate of candidates, or a campaign committee may solicit and accept\ncontributions after the date of a primary election, regular election, or special\nelection to defray necessary expenses that arise after the date of the election\nassociated with election contests, recounts, and recanvasses of a specific election,\ncomplaints regarding alleged campaign finance violations that are filed with the\nregistry pertaining to a specific election, or other legal actions pertaining to a\nspecific election to which a candidate, slate of candidates, or campaign committee\nis a party, and for repayment of debts and obligations owed by the campaign or\nprevious campaign for the same office. Reports of contributions received and\nexpenditures made after the date of the specific election shall be made in\naccordance with KRS 121.180.\n(18) No candidate, slate of candidates, committee, except a political issues committee,\nindependent expenditure-only committee, or contribu ting organization, nor anyone\non their behalf, shall knowingly accept a contribution from a corporation, directly\nor indirectly, except to the extent that the contribution is designated to a state\nexecutive committee's building fund account established under KRS 121.172.\n(19) Nothing in this section shall be construed to restrict the ability of a corporation to\nadminister its permanent committee insofar as its actions can be deemed not to\ninfluence an election as prohibited by KRS 121.025.\n(20) No candidate, slate of candidates, or committee, nor anyone on their behalf, shall\nsolicit a contribution of money or services from a state employee, whether or not\nthe employee is covered by the classified service provisions of KRS Chapter 18A.\nHowever, it shall not be a violation of this subsection for a state employee to\nreceive a solicitation directed to him as a registered voter in an identified precinct as\npart of an overall plan to contact voters not identified as state employees.\n(21) No candidate or slate of c andidates for any office in this state shall accept a\ncontribution, including an in -kind contribution, which is made from funds in a\nfederal campaign account. No person shall make a contribution, including an in -\nkind contribution, from funds in a federal c ampaign account to any candidate or\nslate of candidates for any office in this state. However, it shall not be a violation of\nthis subsection for a federal candidate to contribute to a party executive committee\nif the amount of the contribution does not exceed the contribution limit contained in\nsubsection (11) of this section and the contribution is not earmarked for a particular\ncandidate or slate of candidates.\n(22) It shall be permissible for a married couple to make a contribution with one (1)\ncheck th at reflects the combined individual contribution limits of each individual\nspouse per election, as set forth in subsection (6) of this section, for all elections in\na calendar year and the following shall be required to be written on the check:\n(a) The signatures of both spouses on the signature line of the check; and\n(b) The designation of each contribution amount and the election or elections to\nwhich they apply shall be memorialized on the memo line of the check.\n(23) This section and any other provision  of this chapter shall not be construed to\nprohibit a qualified political party committee, including a state or county executive\ncommittee, from endorsing, supporting, opposing, or making otherwise lawful\ncontributions or expenditures supporting or opposin g a candidacy designated as\nnonpartisan under state law. The endorsement, support, or opposition by a political\nparty committee shall not affect the nonpartisan status of the office or the candidate.","path":["KRS Chapter 121"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=58069","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:50:18Z","sha256":"c154d8b377c55dde7e3661a6be59ed81eee2e1d574512204f499fe4558479476","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-121.140","next":"us-ky/krs-121.160"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}