{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-278.990","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 278.990","heading":"Penalties.","body":"(1) Any officer, agent, or employee of a utility, as defined in KRS 278.010, and any\nother person who willfully violates any of the provisions of this chapter or any\nregulation promulgated pursuant to this chapter, or fails to obey any order of the\ncommission from which all rights of appeal have been exhausted, or who procures,\naids, or abets a violation by any utility, shall be subject to either a civil penalty to be\nassessed by the commission not to exceed two thousand five hundred dollars\n($2,500) for each o ffense or a criminal penalty of imprisonment for not more than\nsix (6) months, or both. If any utility willfully violates any of the provisions of this\nchapter or any regulation promulgated pursuant to this chapter, or does any act\ntherein prohibited, or fails to perform any duty imposed upon it under those sections\nfor which no penalty has been provided by law, or fails to obey any order of the\ncommission from which all rights of appeal have been exhausted, the utility shall be\nsubject to a civil penalty to be assessed by the commission for each offense not less\nthan twenty -five dollars ($25) nor more than two thousand five hundred dollars\n($2,500). Each act, omission, or failure by an officer, agent, or other person acting\nfor or employed by a utility and acting within the scope of his employment shall be\ndeemed to be the act, omission, or failure of the utility.\n(2) Actions to recover the principal amount due and penalties under this chapter shall\nbe brought in the name of the Commonwealth in the Franklin Circuit Court.\nWhenever any utility is subject to a penalty under this chapter, the commission shall\ncertify the facts to its counsel, who shall bring an action for recovery of the\nprincipal amount due and the penalty. The commission may compromise and\ndismiss the action on terms approved by the court. The principal amount due shall\nbe paid into the State Treasury and credited to the account of the commission, and\nall penalties recovered in such actions shall be paid into the State Treasury and\ncredited to the general fund.\n(3) Any utility that fails to pay an assessment as provided for by KRS 278.130 to\n278.150 shall forfeit and pay to the state one thousand dollars ($1,000), and twenty -\nfive dollars ($25) for each day it fails to pay the assessment, and sha ll not be\nreleased thereby from its liability for the assessment.\n(4) Any utility that issues any securities or evidences of indebtedness, or assumes any\nobligation or liability in respect to the securities or evidences of indebtedness of any\nother person,  or makes any sale or other disposition of securities or evidences of\nindebtedness, or the proceeds thereof, for purposes other than the purposes specified\nin the order of the commission made with respect thereto under KRS 278.300, shall\nbe fined not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000).\n(5) Any utility that violates any of the provisions of KRS 278.460 shall be fined not\nless than one hundred dollars ($100) for each offense.\n(6) Any company that willfully fails to receive, transport, and deliver oil or  gas as\nrequired by KRS 278.490 shall, in addition to being liable in damages to the injured\nperson, be fined not less than one hundred dollars ($100) nor more than five\nhundred dollars ($500), and each day of willful failure shall constitute a separate\noffense.\n(7) Any telephone company that refuses to make a connection with the exchange or\nlines of another company for a period of thirty (30) days after being ordered to do so\nby the commission under subsection (2) of KRS 278.530 shall be fined not less than\none thousand dollars ($1,000) nor more than five thousand dollars ($5,000), to be\nrecovered by indictment in the Franklin Circuit Court or in the Circuit Court of the\ncounty where the company requesting the connection resides or has its chief office\nin t his state. If the company desiring the connection proceeds to make the\nconnection, as permitted by subsection (2) of KRS 278.530, and the company so\nconnected with refuses to receive and transmit the toll messages offered to it by the\ncompany making the co nnection, or refuses to deliver messages from its own lines\nor exchanges to the lines or exchanges of the company making the connection, the\ncompany so refusing shall be fined one hundred dollars ($100) for each day it\nrefuses, to be recovered by indictmen t in the courts mentioned in the first sentence\nof this subsection; if it continues so to refuse for a period of six (6) months it shall\nforfeit its right to do business in this state, and any of its officers, agents, or\nemployees who does or attempts to d o any business in this state for it after the\nexpiration of the six (6) months' period shall be fined fifty dollars ($50) for each day\nhe does or attempts to do such business.","path":["KRS Chapter 278"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=14181","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:53:31Z","sha256":"0a3314cdd387d48e1de76b482302ae262be0f1f8befd666eed9fd13a312c623b","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-278.718","next":"us-ky/krs-278.992"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}