{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-376.265","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 376.265","heading":"Lien on real property for service to retail business by municipal utility --","body":"Priority -- Statement of lien -- Action to enforce -- Release of lien by execution\nof bond.\n(1) As used in this section, unless the context requires otherwise:\n(a) \"Charges\" means all rates, charges, and other amounts payable for services\nrendered by a municipal utility, including and without limitation penalties,\ninterest, reasonable attorney's fees, and other costs of enforcing the lien;\n(b) \"Municipal utility\" means any public agency that owns or operates a system or\nfacilities for the provision of gas, electric, sewer, water, or\ntelecommunications service to retail customers;\n(c) \"Public agency\" has the same meaning as specified in KRS 65.230;\n(d) \"Retail business ratepayer\" means any nonresidential ratepayer of a municipal\nutility that is in arrears on the utility bill in an amount in excess of ten\nthousand dollars ($10,000); and\n(e) \"Service\" means gas, electric, sewer, or water service provided by the\nmunicipal utility.\n(2) Any municipal utility shall have a lien on the real property of a retail business\nratepayer served by the municipal utility. The lien shall be for the collection of rates\nand charges for retail utility service provided to the retail business ratepayer. In no\ninstance shall this lien attach to the real property of an owner who has leased the\nproperty to a retail business ratepayer unless the property owner is responsible for\npaying the utility charges under the lease agreement.\n(3) The lien shall arise an d attach as services are provided to the retail business\nratepayer and shall remain in place until the rates and charges for the services are\npaid in full. The lien is deemed a statutory lien within the meaning of 11 U.S.C. sec.\n101(53).\n(4) The rights to a lien under this section:\n(a) Are in addition to any other rights or remedies a municipal utility may have\nunder the law or pursuant to a contract; and\n(b) Are not intended to impair or alter any of the municipal utility's other rights or\nremedies, including the ability to require an additional deposit or to shut off\nand discontinue service.\n(5) The lien may take priority over a mortgage, a contract lien, or a bona fide\nconveyance for value if:\n(a) The municipal utility files notice which is duly recorded or lodged for record\naccording to law;\n(b) The utility claiming the prior lien files a statement of lien in the office of the\ncounty clerk of the county where the service has been furnished before the\nrecording of the mortgage, the contract lien, or the conveyance; and\n(c) The statement of lien is in the form prescribed in subsections (6) and (7) of\nthis section.\n(6) The statement of lien shall be subscribed and sworn to by an authorized\nrepresentative of the municipal utility and shall identify the following:\n(a) The municipal utility claiming the lien, including an address and a contact\nperson;\n(b) The property, by legal description, against which the lien is claimed;\n(c) The nature of the service provided;\n(d) The contract, if any, pursuant to which the services were provided; and\n(e) The amounts, if any, due for services provided.\n(7) (a) The statement of lien shall  be recorded in the office of the county clerk of the\ncounty where the service is furnished or the property or some portion of the\nproperty serviced by the municipal utility is situated. The utility shall send a\ncopy of the statement of lien by regular mai l, postage prepaid, to the owner of\nthe property at the owner's last known address or to the address associated\nwith the tax bill for the property. The copy of the statement of lien shall be\nsent within ten (10) business days of its filing in the office of the county clerk.\n(b) At any time, a municipal utility may supplement the statement of lien by\nrecording the supplement in the same manner as the original statement of lien.\nAny supplement to the statement of lien shall relate back to the date of the\noriginal recording of the statement of lien.\n(8) The county clerk shall endorse each statement of lien on the date of its filing and the\nclerk shall make an abstract of the statement, endorse the abstract, and place it in a\nbook to be kept by the clerk for that purpose. The book shall contain the following:\n(a) The endorsed and indexed abstracts;\n(b) The date of filing the statement;\n(c) The name of the municipal utility;\n(d) The name of the person against whose property the lien is filed; and\n(e) A description of the property charged with the lien.\n(9) The clerk shall receive a fee pursuant to KRS 64.012 from the person filing the\nstatement as full compensation, which shall be taxed and collected as other costs.\n(10) An action to enforce the lien under this sec tion shall be by equitable proceedings\nand conducted as other proceedings in equity in similar cases. The petition shall\nallege the facts necessary to secure a lien, describe the property charged, and the\nplaintiff's interest in enforcing the lien. Lienhol ders may unite in the action to\nenforce the lien as plaintiffs, and those who are not plaintiffs shall be made\ndefendants. The debtor or the debtor's personal representative, heirs, devisees, and\nall other persons having liens on or interests in the proper ty sought to be subjected\nshall be made defendants.\n(11) The clerk of the court in which the petition is filed shall issue the proper process\nagainst the defendants. After the expiration of ten (10) days from the filing of the\npetition, the clerk of the court in which the petition was filed shall:\n(a) Draw up an order referring the action to the master commissioner of the court\nand file it with the petition;\n(b) Deliver the pleadings and papers of the action to the commissioner; and\n(c) Make a memorandum of the action in the minute book.\n(12) If, for any cause, it should be improper to refer the case to the master commissioner,\nthe master commissioner is directed to select some suitable person to act as a new\ncommissioner for the case and refer the case to h im or her. However, before\nproceeding to act on the case, the new commissioner shall take an oath before the\nclerk and execute bond with sufficient surety. The bond shall be preserved by the\nclerk and reported to the court.\n(13) The owner or claimant of pr operty against which a lien has been asserted may file a\nbond for double the amount of the lien claimed with the county clerk in the county\nwhere the lien was filed. Bond may be asserted at any time before a judgment is\nrendered enforcing the lien, and the  bond shall have good sureties approved by the\nclerk and be conditioned upon the obligors satisfying any judgment that may be\nrendered in favor of the person asserting the lien. The bond shall be preserved by\nthe clerk, and upon its execution, the lien upon the property shall be discharged. The\nperson asserting the lien may make the obligors in the bond parties to any action to\nenforce its claim. Any judgment recovered may be against all or any of the obligors\non the bond.","path":["KRS Chapter 376"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=35312","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:59:08Z","sha256":"6375eec797f818fbad56af10a6c394e193939941af1f5bead74e7ead5a7c72ff","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-376.260","next":"us-ky/krs-376.268"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}