{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-160.597","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 160.597","heading":"Levy recall procedure.","body":"Any school tax authorized by KRS 160.593 to 160.597, 160.601 to 160.617, and 160.635\nto 160.648 may be recalled as follows:\n(1) (a) The order or resolution levying any of the school taxes designated in this\nsection shall go into effect not less than forty -five (45) days nor more than\nninety (90) days after its passage.\n(b) During the forty -five (45) days immediately following the passage of the\norder or resolution, any five (5) qualified voters who reside in the school\ndistrict levying the tax may commence petition proceedings to protest the\npassage of the order or resolution by filing with the county clerk an affidavit\nstating that they constitute the petition committee and that they will be\nresponsible for circulating the petition and filing it in the prop er form within\nforty-five (45) days from the passage of the order or resolution. The affidavit\nshall state their names and addresses and specify the address to which all\nnotices to the committee are to be sent. Upon receipt of the affidavit, the\ncounty clerk shall:\n1. At the time of filing of the affidavit, notify the petition committee of all\nstatutory requirements for the filing of a valid petition under this\nsection;\n2. At the time of the filing of the affidavit, notify the petition committee\nthat the cl erk will publish a notice identifying the tax levy being\nchallenged and providing the names and addresses of the petition\ncommittee in a newspaper of general circulation within the county, if\nsuch publication exists, if the petition committee remits an amount equal\nto the cost of publishing the notice determined in accordance with the\nprovisions of KRS 424.160 at the time of the filing of the affidavit. If\nthe petition committee elects to have the notice published, the clerk shall\npublish the notice within five (5) days of receipt of the affidavit; and\n3. Deliver a copy of the affidavit to the local board of education or\ncombined taxing district.\n(c) The petition shall be filed with the county clerk within forty -five (45) days of\nthe passage of the order or resolution. All papers of the petition shall be\nuniform in size and style and shall be assembled in one (1) instrument for\nfiling. Each sheet of the petition shall contain the names of voters from one\n(1) voting precinct only, and shall include the name, n umber and designation\nof the precinct in which the voters signing the petition live. The inclusion of\nan invalid signature on a page shall not invalidate the entire page of the\npetition, but shall instead result in the invalid signature being stricken and not\ncounted. Each signature shall be executed in ink or indelible pencil and shall\nbe followed by the printed name, street address, and Social Security number\nor birthdate of the person signing. The petition shall be signed by a number of\nregistered and qualified voters residing in the affected jurisdiction equal to at\nleast ten percent (10%) of the total number of votes cast in the last preceding\npresidential election, except in consolidated local governments, where the\npetition shall be signed by a number of registered and qualified voters equal to\nat least five percent (5%) of the total number of votes cast in the last\npreceding presidential election.\n(d) Upon the filing of the peti tion with the county clerk, the order or resolution\nshall be suspended from going into effect for that district until after the\nelection provided for in subsection (2) of this section is held, or until the\npetition is finally determined to be insufficient and no further action may be\ntaken pursuant to paragraph (h) of this subsection.\n(e) The county clerk shall immediately notify the local board of education or\ncombined taxing district that the petition has been received and shall, within\nthirty (30) days of receipt of the petition, make a determination of whether the\npetition contains enough signatures of qualified voters to place the order or\nresolution before the voters.\n(f) If the county clerk finds the petition to be sufficient, the clerk shall certify to\nthe local board of education or combined taxing district and the petition\ncommittee within the thirty (30) day period provided for in paragraph (e) of\nthis subsection, that the petition is properly presented and in compliance with\nthe provisions of this  section, and that the order or resolution levying the tax\nwill be placed before the voters for approval.\n(g) If the county clerk finds the petition to be insufficient, the clerk shall, within\nthe thirty (30) day period provided for in paragraph (e) of thi s subsection,\nnotify, in writing, the petition committee and the school district or combined\ntaxing district levying the tax of the specific deficiencies found. Notification\nshall be sent by certified mail, and shall be published at least one (1) time in a\nnewspaper of general circulation within the county containing the school\ndistrict levying the tax or, if there is no such newspaper, shall be posted at the\ncourthouse door.\n(h) A final determination of the sufficiency of a petition shall be subject to fin al\nreview by the Circuit Court of the county in which the school district is\nlocated, and shall be limited to the validity of the county clerk's\ndetermination. Any petition challenging the county clerk's final determination\nshall be filed within ten (10) d ays of the issuance of the clerk's final\ndetermination.\n(2) If the petition is sufficient, the county clerk shall, at the option of the local board of\neducation, either submit the question to the voters of the school district at the next\nregular election or submit the question to the voters of the school district at a called\ncommon school election, which is to be held not less than thirty -five (35) days nor\nmore than forty -five (45) days from the date the signatures on the petition are\nvalidated by the coun ty clerk. Any called common school election shall comply\nwith the provisions of KRS 118.025. If the election is to be held in conjunction with\na regular election, the question shall be submitted to the county clerk not later than\nthe second Tuesday in Augu st preceding the regular election. The question shall be\nso framed that the voter may by his vote answer, \"for\" or \"against.\" If a majority of\nthe votes cast in a district or combined taxing district upon the question oppose its\npassage, the order or resol ution shall not go into effect in that district or combined\ntaxing district. If a majority of the votes cast in a district or combined taxing district\nupon the question favor its passage, the order or resolution shall go into effect in\nthat district. If the election is to be held in more than one (1) school district within a\ncounty, the votes shall be counted separately. The cost of a called common school\nelection shall be borne by the school district causing the election to be held.\n(3) If any statute in e xistence on June 17, 1978, is found to be in conflict with any\nprovision of this section, the provisions of this section shall prevail.","path":["KRS Chapter 160"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=56959","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:51:08Z","sha256":"916b840a1066111d9ff55e111fb90a79a46a517e5868dd8cec6da624fb09ca6f","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-160.595","next":"us-ky/krs-160.599"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}