{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-16.220","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 16.220","heading":"Public auction of confiscated firearms -- Disposition of proceeds --","body":"Department of Kentucky State Police treatment of transferred firearms.\n(1) Subject to the duty to return confiscated firearms to innocent owners pursuant to\nKRS 500.090, all firearms confiscated by the Department of Kentucky State Police\nand not retained for official use pursuant to KRS 500.090 shall be sold at public\nauction to:\n(a) Federally licensed firearms dealers holding a license appropriate for the type\nof firearm sold; or\n(b) For a firearm which was used in a homicide, any person who certifies on a\nform provided by the Department of Kentucky State Police prior to placing a\nbid that he or she will, upon completion of the auction, leave the firearm with\nthe Departm ent of Kentucky State Police for destruction. A state or local\ngovernment or agency thereof shall not purchase a firearm under this\nparagraph.\n(2) Any provision of KRS Chapter 45 or 45A relating to disposition of property to the\ncontrary notwithstanding, the Department of Kentucky State Police shall:\n(a) Conduct any auction specified by this section;\n(b) Retain for departmental use twenty percent (20%) of the gross proceeds from\nany auction specified by this section;\n(c) Transfer remaining proceeds of the sale to the account of the Kentucky Office\nof Homeland Security for use as provided in subsection (5) of this section;\nand\n(d) For any sale pursuant to subsection (1)(b) of this section, destroy the firearm.\n(3) Prior to the sale of any firearm, the Depart ment of Kentucky State Police shall\nmake an attempt to determine if the firearm to be sold has been stolen or otherwise\nunlawfully obtained from an innocent owner and return the firearm to its lawful\ninnocent owner, unless that person is ineligible to purc hase a firearm under federal\nlaw.\n(4) The Department of Kentucky State Police shall receive firearms and ammunition\nconfiscated by or abandoned to every law enforcement agency in Kentucky. The\ndepartment shall dispose of the firearms received in the manner  specified in\nsubsections (1) and (2) of this section. However, firearms which are not retained for\nofficial use, returned to an innocent lawful owner, or transferred to another\ngovernment agency or public museum shall be sold as provided in subsection (1)  of\nthis section.\n(5) The proceeds of firearms sales shall be ut ilized by the Kentucky Office of\nHomeland Security to provide grants to city, county, charter county, unified local\ngovernment, urban -county government, and consolidated local government police\ndepartments; university safety and security departments organi zed pursuant to KRS\n164.950; school districts that employ special law enforcement officers as defined in\nKRS 61.900; airport safety and security departments established under KRS\n183.880; and sheriff's departments for the purchase of:\n(a) Body armor for sw orn peace officers of those departments and service\nanimals, as defined in KRS 525.010, of those departments;\n(b) Firearms or ammunition;\n(c) Electronic control devices, electronic control weapons, or electro -muscular\ndisruption technology; and\n(d) Body-worn cameras.\nIn awarding grants under this section, the Kentucky Office of Homeland Security\nshall give first priority to providing and replacing body armor and second priority to\nproviding firearms and ammunition, with residual funds available for the pur chase\nof body -worn cameras, electronic control devices, electronic control weapons, or\nelectro-muscular disruption technology. Body armor purchased by the department\nreceiving grant funds shall meet or exceed the standards issued by the National\nInstitute of Justice for body armor. No police or sheriff's department shall apply for\na grant to replace existing body armor unless that body armor has been in actual use\nfor a period of five (5) years or longer. Any department applying for grant funds for\nbody-worn cameras shall develop a policy for their use and shall submit that policy\nwith its application for the grant funds to the Office of Homeland Security as part of\nthe application process.\n(6) The Department of Kentucky State Police may transfer a machine g un, short -\nbarreled shotgun, short -barreled rifle, silencer, pistol with a shoulder stock, any\nother weapon, or destructive device as defined by the National Firearms Act which\nis subject to registration under the National Firearms Act and is not properly\nregistered in the national firearms transfer records for those types of weapons, to the\nBureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms of the United States Department of\nJustice, after a reasonable attempt has been made to transfer the firearm to an\neligible stat e or local law enforcement agency or to an eligible museum and no\neligible recipient will take the firearm or weapon. National Firearms Act firearms\nand weapons which are properly registered and not returned to an innocent lawful\nowner or retained for offi cial use as provided in this section shall be sold in\naccordance with subsection (1) of this section.","path":["KRS Chapter 16"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=56081","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:48:36Z","sha256":"d3dd4e5faaf10dd7b7a57b428e95fbdda26b0659a6a2d9e35fb9991bfa83eb66","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-16.210","next":"us-ky/krs-16.505"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}