{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-131.610","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 131.610","heading":"Directory of certified tobacco product manufacturers and brand families --","body":"Requirements for inclusion -- Removal -- Notice.\n(1) The Attorney General shall develop and make available to the department for public\ninspection, to include publishing on t he department's Web site, a listing of all\ntobacco product manufacturers that have provided current and accurate\ncertifications pursuant to KRS 131.608 and all brand families that are listed in the\ncertifications. The listing shall be referred to as the \"d irectory\" and completed no\nlater than July 1 of each certification year.\n(2) The department shall not include or retain in the directory the name or brand\nfamilies of any nonparticipating manufacturer that has failed to provide the required\ncertification o r whose certification the Attorney General determines is not in\ncompliance with KRS 131.608, unless the Attorney General has determined that\nsuch violation has been satisfactorily cured.\n(3) Neither a nonparticipating manufacturer nor a brand family shall be included or\nretained in the directory if the Attorney General determines that:\n(a) Any escrow payment required pursuant to KRS 131.602 for any period for any\nbrand family, whether or not listed by the nonparticipating manufacturer, has\nnot been fully pa id into a qualified escrow fund governed by a qualified\nescrow agreement that has been approved by the Attorney General;\n(b) Any outstanding final judgment, including interest thereon, for a violation of\nKRS 131.602 has not been fully satisfied for the bra nd family or the\nmanufacturer;\n(c) The requirements for certification under KRS 131.608 have not been met; or\n(d) The financial instrument required by KRS 131.602(10) has not been posted.\n(4) Upon receipt of information from the Attorney General, the department shall update\nthe directory as necessary in order to correct mistakes and to add or remove a\ntobacco product manufacturer or brand family to keep the directory in conformity\nwith the requirements of this section and KRS 131.608 and 131.620.\n(5) (a) The department shall transmit, by electronic mail or other practicable means,\nnotice to each stamping agent and distributor of any addition to or removal\nfrom the directory of any tobacco product manufacturer or brand family.\n(b) Within seven (7) days of receiving a removal notice from the department, each\nstamping agent or distributor shall forward:\n1. A copy of the removal notice to each of the stamping agent's or\ndistributor's retail customers; and\n2. To the department, a list of the retail customers and any other person to\nwhom the removal notices were sent.\n(c) The retailer shall not sell any cigarettes of a tobacco product manufacturer or\nbrand family that has been removed from the directory.\n(d) The department shall work cooperatively with the stamping agents and\ndistributors to develop an electronic system which will be used to notify, as\nsoon as possible, all retail customers and any other person to whom the\nnonparticipating manufacturer's products were sold that:\n1. A notice of intent to remove the nonparticipating manufacturer from the\ndirectory has been issued by the Attorney General; and\n2. A subsequent change in that status has occurred as a result of the\nnonparticipating manufacturer coming in to compliance prior to being\nremoved from the directory.\n(6) Every stamping agent and distributor shall provide and update as necessary an\nelectronic mail address to the department for the purpose of receiving any\nnotifications that may be required by this  section and KRS 131.608, 131.616,\n131.620, and 131.624.\n(7) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (2) and (3) of this section, in the case\nof any nonparticipating manufacturer who has established a qualified escrow fund\npursuant to KRS 131.602 tha t has been approved by the Attorney General, the\nAttorney General may not remove the nonparticipating manufacturer or its brand\nfamilies from the directory unless the nonparticipating manufacturer has been given\nat least thirty (30) days' notice of the int ended action. For the purposes of this\nsection, notice shall be deemed sufficient if it is sent either electronically to an\nelectronic-mail address or by first class to a postal mailing address provided by the\nnonparticipating manufacturer in its most rece nt certification filed pursuant to KRS\n131.608. The notified nonparticipating manufacturer shall have thirty (30) days\nfrom receipt of the notice to comply. At the time that the Attorney General sends\nnotice of his or her intent to remove the nonparticipat ing manufacturer from the\ndirectory, the Attorney General shall post the notice in the directory.\n(8) Beginning on the day after the Attorney General posts a notice in the directory of\nthe Attorney General's intent to remove the nonparticipating manufactur er from the\ndirectory as provided in subsection (7) of this section, a stamping agent or\ndistributor shall not purchase cigarettes from the nonparticipating manufacturer or\nany of its importers unless and until the Attorney General determines that the\nnonparticipating manufacturer is in compliance with KRS 131.608 and posts the\nnotification of compliance in the directory.","path":["KRS Chapter 131"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=44703","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:50:22Z","sha256":"db4b30556f48c5805b0a77db59418d6e44c0398657e104d9c2eac4449aca235e","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-131.608","next":"us-ky/krs-131.612"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}