{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-247.018","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 247.018","heading":"Definitions -- Purchase, lease, or acquisition of agricultural land by","body":"nonresident alien, foreign business, foreign agent, trustee, or fiduciary for\ngovernment of proscribed country -- Prohibitions and conditions -- Review of\nreport -- Violations.\n(1) As used in this section:\n(a) \"Agricultural land\" has the same meaning as in 7 U.S.C. sec. 3508;\n(b) \"Fiduciary\" has the same meaning as in KRS 131.010;\n(c) \"Foreign agent\" has the same meaning as in 18 U.S.C. sec. 1839;\n(d) \"Foreign business\" has the same meaning as in 26 C.F.R. sec. 301.7701-5;\n(e) \"Nonresident alien\" has the same meaning as in 26 C.F.R. sec. 1.871-2; and\n(f) \"Trustee\" has the same meaning as in KRS 218A.405.\n(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, except as provided in\nsubsections (3) to (5) of this section, on or after June 27, 2025, a nonresident alien,\nforeign business, foreign agent, trustee, or fiduciary who has a legal relationship\nwith or is legally bound to take instruction from or execute decision s for the\ngovernment of any proscribed country referenced in 22 C.F.R. sec. 126.1, as\namended, shall be prohibited from:\n(a) The purchase, lease, or acquisition of any interest in public or private\nagricultural land located in the Commonwealth of Kentucky; and\n(b) Participation in programs administered by the Department of Agriculture,\nAgricultural Development Board, and Kentucky Agricultural Finance\nCorporation.\n(3) Any agricultural land purchased, leased, or acquired by a nonresident alien, foreign\nbusiness, foreign agent, trustee, or fiduciary who has a legal relationship with or is\nlegally bound to take instruction from or execute decisions for the government of\nany proscribed country referenced in 22 C.F.R. sec. 126.1, as amended, prior to\nJune 27, 2025, may con tinue to own or hold the agricultural land, but shall not\npurchase, lease, or acquire any additional agricultural land or interest in agricultural\nland in this Commonwealth.\n(4) Any entity that has a national security agreement with the Committee on Foreig n\nInvestment in the United States and continues to maintain that national security\nagreement may purchase, lease, or acquire a maximum of three hundred fifty (350)\nacres of agricultural land for the purposes of:\n(a) Agricultural research and development; or\n(b) Experimental purposes, including testing, development, or production of any\ncrop production inputs for sale or resale to farmers, including but not limited\nto:\n1. Seeds;\n2. Plants;\n3. Pesticides;\n4. Soil amendments;\n5. Biologicals; or\n6. Fertilizers.\n(5) A nonresident alien, foreign business, foreign agent, trustee, or fiduciary may own,\npurchase, hold, or develop agricultural land for immediate or potential\nnonagricultural use in an amount necessary for the conduct of its nonagricultural\nbusiness operation, including the filing of any permit or application to any state or\nfederal agency having jurisdiction over the project for permitting purposes,\nprovided that:\n(a) Development of the nonagricultural business operation has been completed\nwithin five (5) years from acquiring the land. Failure to develop the land\nwithin that time shall be deemed a violation of this section; and\n(b) The agricultural land shall not be used for farming, except under lease to a\nfamily farm unit, family farm corporation, or an authorized farm corporation,\npending the development of the agricultural land for a nonagricultural use.\n(6) Nothing in this section shall prohibit an existing foreign business located in the\nCommonwealth who has a legal relationship with or is legally bound to take\ninstruction from or execute decisions for the government of any proscribed country\nreferenced in 22 C.F.R. sec. 126.1, as amended, from purchasing, leasing, or\nacquiring agricultural land adjacent to the land that the foreign business owns an d\noperates in order to expand the operation of its business.\n(7) Nothing in this section shall exempt a nonresident alien, foreign business, foreign\nagent, trustee, or fiduciary who has a legal relationship with or is legally bound to\ntake instruction from  or execute decisions for the government of any proscribed\ncountry referenced in 22 C.F.R. sec. 126.1, as amended, from:\n(a) The provisions of the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act, 7\nU.S.C. sec. 3501 et seq., and its accompanying regulations at 7 C.F.R. pt. 781\net seq., or any amendments thereto; and\n(b) Filing a copy of the report required by 7 U.S.C. sec. 3501 et seq., and its\naccompanying regulations at 7 C.F.R. pt. 781 et seq., or amendments thereto,\nwith the Department of Agriculture within the time period specified therein.\n(8) The Department of Agriculture shall review any report:\n(a) Received in accordance with subsection (7) of this section; or\n(b) Voluntarily submitted by a county register of deeds alleging a violation of this\nsection.\n(9) If the Department of Agriculture has reason to believe that a violation of this\nsection may have occurred, the department shall refer evidence of noncompliance to\nthe Office of the Attorney General, which shall investigate the evidence for\nviolations of this section. The Office of the Attorney General may bring an action\npursuant to KRS Chapter 15 to enforce the provisions of this section.\n(10) (a) If the court finds that agricultural land has been purchased or acquired in\nviolation of this section, t hen the court shall declare the agricultural land\nescheated to the state and order the sale of the agricultural land in the manner\nprovided by law for the judicial foreclosure of a mortgage on real estate for\ndefault of payment. The proceeds of the sale of  the agricultural land pursuant\nto this paragraph through judicial foreclosure shall be disbursed in the\nfollowing order:\n1. Recovery of reasonable costs of litigation by the Office of the Attorney\nGeneral, as determined by the court and approved by the secretary of the\nFinance and Administration Cabinet;\n2. Payment of delinquent ad valorem taxes;\n3. Payment to mortgage and other lien holders, in the priority determined\nby the court; and\n4. Deposit in the budget reserve trust fund.\n(b) If the court finds that agricultural land has been leased in violation of this\nsection, then the court shall rescind t he lease and it shall be rendered null and\nvoid.","path":["KRS Chapter 247"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=56264","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:52:56Z","sha256":"269113ac65b26e23baad4a213a38c85ad5543aee8d939f361b614372a0d19f5c","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-247.015","next":"us-ky/krs-247.020"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}