{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-509.080","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 509.080","heading":"Criminal coercion.","body":"(1) A person is guilty of criminal coercion when with intent to compel another person\nto engage in or refrain from conduct, he unlawfully threatens to:\n(a) Commit any crime; or\n(b) Accuse anyone of a crime; or\n(c) Expose any secret tending to subject any pe rson to hatred, contempt or\nridicule or to impair another's credit or business repute; or\n(d) Take or withhold action as an official or cause an official to take or withhold\naction.\n(2) A defendant may prove in exculpation of criminal coercion committed under\nsubsection (1)(b), (c) or (d) that he believed the accusation or secret to be true or the\nproposed official action justified and that his sole purpose was to compel or induce\nthe victim to desist from misbehavior or to make good a wrong done by him.\n(3) Criminal coercion is a Class A misdemeanor.","path":["KRS Chapter 509"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=19755","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T21:00:01Z","sha256":"9a8a70b268b0a4b0e1e92549d3c6d27b75361f84e0c667a3f306cf8021c55f9f","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-509.070","next":"us-ky/krs-510.010"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}