{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-196.281","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 196.281","heading":"Documentation provided to prisoners upon release -- Issuance of","body":"certificate of employability -- Eligibility, contents, and revocation.\n(1) When a prisoner is released, the department shall issue to that prisoner, with the\nprisoner's consent, documents regarding all of the following:\n(a) The prisoner's criminal history in Kentucky;\n(b) The prisoner's institutional history, including all of the following:\n1. Any record of major disciplinary violations;\n2. Whether the prisoner successfully co mpleted programming approved by\nthe department;\n3. Whether the prisoner obtained a high school equivalency diploma or\nother educational degree prior to incarceration, to the extent known or\nverifiable by the department;\n4. Whether the prisoner obtained a high school equivalency diploma or\nother educational degree while incarcerated;\n5. The prisoner's work record prior to incarceration, including past\nemployment and skills, to the extent known or verifiable by the\ndepartment, and to the extent the departmen t is technologically capable\nof providing this information; and\n6. The prisoner' s institutional work record, including skills obtained\nthrough any job training or programming provided by the department;\nand\n(c) Other information considered relevant by the department.\n(2) When a prisoner is released, the department may, in conjunction with the\nTransportation Cabinet, issue to that prisoner an operator's license or personal\nidentification card that is a voluntary travel ID document pursuant to KRS 186.417.\n(3) In addition to the documents provided under subsections (1) and (2) of this se ction,\nthe department shall issue a certificate of employability to a prisoner if all of the\nfollowing apply:\n(a) The prisoner achieved one (1) or both of the following:\n1. While incarcerated:\na. Successfully earned one (1) or more of the following:\ni. An educational credit pursuant to KRS 197.045(1)(a)2.;\nii. A program completion credit pursuant to KRS\n197.045(1)(a)3.; or\niii. A work-for-time credit pursuant to KRS 197.047; or\nb. Successfully completed the Kentucky Community and Technical\nCollege System Pr ison Education Program pursuant to KRS\n197.290; or\n2. Prior to incarceration, earned a High School Equivalency Diploma, a\nhigh school diploma, a college degree, certification from a vocational or\ntechnical education program that the program was completed, or a\ndiploma or degree from a correspondence postsecondary education\nprogram approved by the department;\n(b) The prisoner received no major disciplinary violations during the year\nimmediately preceding his or her release; and\n(c) 1. The prisoner received a  score or level of competence as determined by\nthe department on a job skills assessment test administered by the\ndepartment or jail; or\n2. The prisoner successfully completed the KCTCS Prison Education\nProgram and received an academic certificate, diploma, or degree.\n(4) A certificate of employability issued pursuant to subsection (3) of this section shall:\n(a) Be issued to the prisoner when he or she is released from a correctional\nfacility;\n(b) Be on a form provided by the department;\n(c) Be valid unless revoked by the department; and\n(d) Not create relief from:\n1. A requirement to register as a sex offender under KRS 17.510;\n2. A driver's license, commercial driver's license, or probationary license\nsuspension, cancellation, or revocation;\n3. A restriction on employment as a prosecutor or law enforcement officer;\nor\n4. The denial, ineligibility, or automatic suspension of a health care\nprofessional's license due to a substance use disorder.\n(5) (a) The department shall revoke the certificate of employability provided under\nthis section of any individual who is convicted of a felony after receiving a\ncertificate of employability.\n(b) The department shall provide an individual whose certificate of empl oyability\nhas been revoked under this subsection an opportunity to file a grievance\nthrough the department's prisoner grievance system. The revocation of a\ncertificate of employability is effective when the individual is notified of the\nrevocation.\n(c) The revocation of a certificate of employability does not affect the right of an\nemployer to rely on the validity of the certificate of employability unless the\nemployer knew before the individual was employed that the certificate of\nemployability was fraudulent.\n(6) An individual shall not intentionally state or otherwise represent that he or she has a\nvalid certificate of employability issued by the department knowing that the\nstatement or representation is false. An individual who violates this subsection s hall\nbe guilty of a Class B misdemeanor.\n(7) Upon request, the department shall confirm whether a certificate of employability\nhas been issued to a named individual and whether the certificate is valid at the time\nof the inquiry and at the time of the department's response to that inquiry.\n(8) The department is not civilly liable for damages based upon its decision to issue or\ndeny issuance of a certificate of employability to any prisoner or for revoking or\nfailing to revoke a certificate of employability issued to any prisoner.\n(9) (a) In a judicial or administrative proceeding alleging negligence or other fault, a\ncertificate of employability issued to an individual under this section may be\nintroduced as evidence of a person's due care in hiring, retaini ng, licensing,\nleasing to, admitting to a school or program, or otherwise transacting business\nor engaging in activity with the individual to whom the certificate of\nemployability was issued if the person knew of the certificate at the time of\nthe alleged negligence or other fault.\n(b) In any proceeding on a claim against an employer for negligent hiring, a\ncertificate of employability issued to an individual under this section may be a\ndefense for the employer as to the claim if the employer knew of the\ncertificate at the time of the alleged negligence, except in cases where the\nemployer knew or should have known the employee should not be hired for\nthe position due to the nature of his or her history, including criminal history\nrelevant to the claim.\n(10) The department shall notify incoming prisoners of the possibility to earn a\ncertificate of employability.\n(11) The department shall submit an annual report no later than September 1 of each\nyear to the Governor and to the Legislative Research Commission fo r referral to the\nInterim Joint Committee on Licensing, Occupations, and Administrative\nRegulations and the Interim Joint Committee on Judiciary, which shall include:\n(a) The number of certificates of employability issued in the preceding twelve\n(12) months;\n(b) The rate of recidivism among released prisoners previously issued certificates\nof employability;\n(c) Any other information the department deems appropriate to include; and\n(d) Beginning September 1, 2029, the data in KRS 197.290(7)(e).","path":["KRS Chapter 196"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=57420","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:51:49Z","sha256":"a19bac690e34c150cb130cc37cea1f8d85623a08e5283038fc565795ad8177da","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-196.280","next":"us-ky/krs-196.282"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}