{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-134.119","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 134.119","heading":"Sheriff is collector of taxes -- Means of payment -- Penalties -- Sale of","body":"personal property -- Compensation of sheriff.\n(1) (a) The sheriff shall be the collector of all state, county, county school district,\nand other taxing district propert y taxes unless the payment is directed by law\nto be made to some other person. The sheriff may contract to collect taxes on\nbehalf of cities, independent school districts, or any other governmental unit\nwith the authority to levy a property tax, if the enabling legislation authorizing\nimposition of the tax permits the governmental unit to contract for the\nperformance of tax collection duties.\n(b) The provisions of this chapter relating to the collection of property taxes shall\napply to other property tax co llectors to the extent that the governing body of\nthe city, school district, or taxing district appointing the tax collector has not\nadopted alternative tax collection processes and procedures.\n(2) Payment to the sheriff may be provided by any commercially acceptable means. The\nsheriff may limit the acceptable methods of payment to those that ensure that\npayment cannot be reversed or nullified due to insufficient funds.\n(3) (a) 1. The sheriff shall accept payment from the day on which the tax bills are\nmailed by the sheriff to the taxpayer as provided in KRS 133.220 and\n133.230, through the day on which the sheriff files the uncollected tax\nclaims with the county clerk pursuant to KRS 134.122. During this time\nperiod, the sheriff may accept full or partial payment for any outstanding\ntaxes or tax claims.\n2. a. Any payments received by the sheriff by mail that:\ni. Are received after the day on which uncollected tax claims\nare filed with the county clerk pursuant to KRS 134.122; and\nii. Have a postmark that ref lects a date on or before the day the\nuncollected tax claims are filed with the county clerk;\nshall be accepted and processed, and the amount due shall be the\namount due immediately before the transfer of the uncollected tax\nclaims by the sheriff to the county clerk.\nb. Payments described in this subparagraph may be processed as\nagreed by the sheriff and county clerk.\nc. Absent an agreement between the sheriff and the county clerk, the\npayment shall be accepted and processed by the sheriff.\nd. If the sheriff accepts and processes the payment, the sheriff shall\nnotify the county clerk, and the county clerk shall update his or her\nrecords to reflect payment of the certificate of delinquency.\ne. The sheriff and the county clerk shall reconcile all transactions\naddressed by this subparagraph by preparation of an addendum to\nthe original reconciliation provided by the sheriff to the county\nclerk at the time of transfer. The addendum shall be prepared thirty\n(30) days after the original transfer, and shall be filed by the county\nclerk in the clerk's order book.\n(b) All payments received by the sheriff shall be entered immediately by the\nsheriff on his or her books. Partial payments shall be credited against the total\namount due and shall be apportioned by the sheriff among the entities\nincluded on the tax bill in the same proportion the amount due to each bears to\nthe amount paid.\n(c) The acceptance of any payment before the taxpayer's tax liability has been\nfinally determined shall not imply that the pa yment was the correct amount\ndue and shall not preclude the assessment and collection of additional taxes\ndue or the refund of any part of the amount paid that is in excess of the\namount determined to be due.\n(d) The sheriff may accept payment of any tax or tax claim from any other person\non behalf of the taxpayer. Any person making a payment on behalf of a\ntaxpayer may, upon the written notarized request of the taxpayer, be treated as\na transferee as provided in KRS 134.121.\n(e) The sheriff may accept payment of any amount due on a delinquent tax claim\nfrom any of the persons described in subparagraphs 1., 2., and 3. of this\nparagraph without permission of the taxpayer. The person seeking to make the\npayment shall provide sufficient proof to the sheriff tha t he or she meets the\nrequirements to pay under this paragraph. The sheriff shall be held harmless if\nhe or she relies upon information provided and accepts payment from a person\nnot qualified to pay under this paragraph. Any person listed in subparagraph\n1., 2., or 3. of this paragraph who makes full payment, may, upon written\nrequest to the sheriff, be treated as a transferee under KRS 134.121:\n1. Any person holding a legal or equitable estate in the real or personal\nproperty upon which the delinquent tax es are due, other than a person\nwhose only interest in the property is a lien resulting from ownership of\na prior year certificate of delinquency;\n2. A tenant or lawful occupant of real property, or a bailee or person in\npossession of any personal property upon which the delinquent taxes are\ndue; or\n3. Any person having a mortgage on real property or a security interest in\nreal or personal property upon which the delinquent taxes are due.\n(4) If, upon expiration of the five percent (5%) penalty period estab lished by KRS\n134.015(2)(c), the real property tax delinquencies of a sheriff exceed fifteen percent\n(15%) of the amount charged to the sheriff for collection, the department may\nrequire the sheriff to make additional reasonable collection efforts. If the sheriff\nfails to initiate additional reasonable collection efforts within fifteen (15) business\ndays following notification from the department that such efforts shall be made, the\ndepartment may assume responsibility for collecting the delinquent taxes. I f the\ndepartment assumes the responsibility for collecting delinquent taxes, the\ndepartment shall receive the amounts that would otherwise be paid to the sheriff as\nfees or commissions for the collection of tax bills.\n(5) In collecting delinquent taxes, the sheriff:\n(a) May distrain and sell personal property owned by a delinquent taxpayer in the\namount necessary to satisfy the delinquent tax claim. The sale shall be made\nunder execution for cash. If the personal property of the delinquent taxpayer\nwithin t he county is not sufficient to satisfy the delinquent tax claim, the\nsheriff may sell so much of the personal property as is available; and\n(b) Shall retain any amounts that come into his or her possession payable to a\ndelinquent taxpayer, other than claim s allowed for attendance as a witness,\nand shall apply such amounts to the amount due on the delinquent tax claim.\n(6) (a) As compensation for collecting property taxes the sheriff shall be paid the\nfollowing amounts, regardless of whether the amounts are collected by the\nsheriff prior to filing the tax claims with the county clerk, or by the county\nclerk after the tax claims become certificates of delinquency or personal\nproperty certificates of delinquency:\n1. From the Commonwealth the sheriff shall be pa id four and one -quarter\npercent (4.25%) of the amount collected on behalf of the\nCommonwealth;\n2. From counties the sheriff shall be paid four and one -quarter percent\n(4.25%) of the amount collected on behalf of the counties;\n3. The sheriff shall be compen sated as provided by law or as negotiated if\nnegotiation is permitted by law, for collecting taxes on behalf of any\ntaxing district;\n4. The sheriff shall be compensated as provided in KRS 160.500 for\ncollecting school district taxes;\n5. The sheriff shall b e compensated as provided in KRS 91A.070 for\ncollecting taxes on behalf of any city; and\n6. The sheriff shall be compensated as provided in KRS 75A.050 for\ncollecting taxes on behalf of any consolidated emergency services\ndistrict.\n(b) The sheriff shall in clude the amounts he or she is entitled to under the\nprovisions of paragraph (a) of this subsection as part of the delinquent tax\nclaims filed with the county clerk. The amount so included shall become a\npart of the certificate of delinquency, and shall be  paid by the person paying\nthe certificate of delinquency rather than the taxing jurisdiction for which the\ntaxes were collected.\n(7) As additional compensation for the collection of delinquent taxes, the sheriff shall\nbe entitled to an amount equal to ten  percent (10%) of the total taxes due plus ten\npercent (10%) of the ten percent (10%) penalty for all delinquent taxes. This fee\nshall be added to the total amount due, and shall be paid by the person paying the\ntax claim if payment is made to the sheriff,  or the certificate of delinquency or\npersonal property certificate of delinquency if payment is made after the tax claim\nhas been filed with the county clerk.\n(8) If, in the process of collecting property taxes, the sheriff becomes aware of a new\naddress for a taxpayer, the sheriff shall provide, on a form provided by the\ndepartment, the information relating to the new address to the property valuation\nadministrator, who shall update his or her records to reflect the new address.","path":["KRS Chapter 134"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=51268","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:50:25Z","sha256":"785cc8141e27466673e526e22be9384fe170e5316b4d28f0a1b4ef12af8d3df2","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-134.110","next":"us-ky/krs-134.120"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}