{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-503.080","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 503.080","heading":"Protection of property.","body":"(1) The use of physical force by a defendant upon another person is justifiable when the\ndefendant believes that such force is immediately necessary to prevent:\n(a) The commission of criminal trespass, robbery, burglary, or other felony\ninvolving the use of force, or under those circumstances permitted pursuant to\nKRS 503.055, in a dwelling, building or upon real property in his or her\npossession or in the possession of another person for whose protection he or\nshe acts;\n(b) Theft, criminal mischief, or any tre spassory taking of tangible, movable\nproperty in his or her possession or in the possession of another person for\nwhose protection he or she acts; or\n(c) The commission of unlawful camping in violation of KRS 511.110, when:\n1. The offense is occurring on property owned or leased by the defendant;\n2. The individual engaged in unlawful camping has been told to cease; and\n3. The individual committing the offense has used force or threatened to\nuse force against the defendant.\n(2) The use of deadly physical for ce by a defendant upon another person is justifiable\nunder subsection (1) of this section only when the defendant believes that the\nperson against whom such force is used is:\n(a) Attempting to dispossess him or her of his or her dwelling otherwise than\nunder a claim of right to its possession; or\n(b) Committing or attempting to commit a burglary, robbery, or other felony\ninvolving the use of force, or under those circumstances perm itted pursuant to\nKRS 503.055, of such dwelling; or\n(c) Committing or attempting to commit arson of a dwelling or other building in\nhis or her possession.\n(3) A person does not have a duty to retreat if the person is in a place where he or she\nhas a right to be.","path":["KRS Chapter 503"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=55453","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T21:00:00Z","sha256":"1406d5119313cf686c5b1affc774ae1d6b4a3624482e97bd222709771093f2ad","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-503.070","next":"us-ky/krs-503.085"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}