{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-532.080","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 532.080","heading":"Persistent felony offender sentencing.","body":"(1) When a defendant is found to be a persistent felony offender, the jury, in lieu of the\nsentence of imprisonment assessed under KRS 532.060 for the crime of which the\ndefendant presently stands convicted, shall fix a sentence of imprisonment as\nauthorized b y subsection (5) or (6) of this section. When a defendant is charged\nwith being a persistent felony offender, the determination of whether or not he or\nshe is such an offender and the punishment to be imposed pursuant to subsection (5)\nor (6) of this secti on shall be determined in a separate proceeding from that\nproceeding which resulted in his or her last conviction. The proceeding shall be\nconducted before the court sitting with the jury that found the defendant guilty of\nhis or her most recent offense un less the court for good cause discharges that jury\nand impanels a new jury for that purpose.\n(2) A persistent felony offender in the second degree is a person who is more than\ntwenty-one (21) years of age and who stands convicted of a felony after having\nbeen convicted of one (1) previous felony. As used in this provision, a previous\nfelony conviction is a conviction of a felony in this state or conviction of a crime in\nany other jurisdiction provided:\n(a) That a sentence to a term of imprisonment of one (1 ) year or more or a\nsentence to death was imposed therefor; and\n(b) That the offender was over the age of eighteen (18) years at the time the\noffense was committed; and\n(c) That the offender:\n1. Completed service of the sentence imposed on the previous fel ony\nconviction within five (5) years prior to the date of commission of the\nfelony for which he or she now stands convicted;\n2. Was on probation, parole, postincarceration supervision, conditional\ndischarge, conditional release, furlough, appeal bond, or a ny other form\nof legal release from any of the previous felony convictions at the time\nof commission of the felony for which he or she now stands convicted;\n3. Was discharged from probation, parole, postincarceration supervision,\nconditional discharge, con ditional release, or any other form of legal\nrelease on any of the previous felony convictions within five (5) years\nprior to the date of commission of the felony for which he or she now\nstands convicted;\n4. Was in custody from the previous felony conviction at the time of\ncommission of the felony for which he or she now stands convicted; or\n5. Had escaped from custody while serving any of the previous felony\nconvictions at the time of commission of the felony  for which he or she\nnow stands convicted.\n(3) A persistent felony offender in the first degree is a person who is more than twenty -\none (21) years of age and who stands convicted of a felony after having been\nconvicted of two (2) or more felonies, or one ( 1) or more felony sex crimes against\na minor as defined in KRS 17.500, and now stands convicted of any one (1) or more\nfelonies. As used in this provision, a previous felony conviction is a conviction of a\nfelony in this state or conviction of a crime in any other jurisdiction provided:\n(a) That a sentence to a term of imprisonment of one (1) year or more or a\nsentence to death was imposed therefor;\n(b) That the offender was over the age of eighteen (18) years at the time the\noffense was committed; and\n(c) That the offender:\n1. Completed service of the sentence imposed on any of the previous\nfelony convictions within five (5) years prior to the date of the\ncommission of the felony for which he or she now stands convicted;\n2. Was on probation, parole, postinc arceration supervision, conditional\ndischarge, conditional release, furlough, appeal bond, or any other form\nof legal release from any of the previous felony convictions at the time\nof commission of the felony for which he or she now stands convicted;\n3. Was discharged from probation, parole, postincarceration supervision,\nconditional discharge, conditional release, or any other form of legal\nrelease on any of the previous felony convictions within five (5) years\nprior to the date of commission of the felon y for which he or she now\nstands convicted;\n4. Was in custody from the previous felony conviction at the time of\ncommission of the felony for which he or she now stands convicted; or\n5. Had escaped from custody while serving any of the previous felony\nconvictions at the time of commission of the felony for which he or she\nnow stands convicted.\n(4) For the purpose of determining whether a person has two (2) or more previous\nfelony convictions, two (2) or more convictions of crime for which that person\nserved concurrent or uninterrupted consecutive terms of imprisonment shall be\ndeemed to be only one (1) conviction, unless one (1) of the convictions was for an\noffense committed while that person was imprisoned.\n(5) A person who is found to be a persistent felo ny offender in the second degree shall\nbe sentenced to an indeterminate term of imprisonment pursuant to the sentencing\nprovisions of KRS 532.060(2) for the next highest degree than the offense for\nwhich convicted. A person who is found to be a persistent felony offender in the\nsecond degree shall not be eligible for probation, shock probation, or conditional\ndischarge, unless all offenses for which the person stands convicted are Class D\nfelony offenses which do not involve a violent act against a person, in which case\nprobation, shock probation, or conditional discharge may be granted. A violent\noffender who is found to be a persistent felony offender in the second degree shall\nnot be eligible for parole except as provided in KRS 439.3401.\n(6) A person who is found to be a persistent felony offender in the first degree shall be\nsentenced to imprisonment as follows:\n(a) If the offense for which he or she presently stands convicted is a Class A or\nClass B felony, or if the person was previously convicted of o ne (1) or more\nsex crimes committed against a minor as defined in KRS 17.500 and presently\nstands convicted of a subsequent sex crime, a persistent felony offender in the\nfirst degree shall be sentenced to an indeterminate term of imprisonment, the\nmaximum of which shall not be less than twenty (20) years nor more than\nfifty (50) years, or life imprisonment, or life imprisonment without parole for\ntwenty-five (25) years for a sex crime committed against a minor;\n(b) If the offense for which he or she presen tly stands convicted is a Class C or\nClass D felony, a persistent felony offender in the first degree shall be\nsentenced to an indeterminate term of imprisonment, the maximum of which\nshall not be less than ten (10) years nor more than twenty (20) years.\n(7) A person who is found to be a persistent felony offender in the first degree shall not\nbe eligible for probation, shock probation, or conditional discharge, unless all\noffenses for which the person stands convicted are Class D felony offenses which\ndo not involve a violent act against a person or a sex crime as that term is defined in\nKRS 17.500, in which case, probation, shock probation, or conditional discharge\nmay be granted. If the offense the person presently stands convicted of is a Class A,\nB, or C felony, the person shall not be eligible for parole until the person has served\na minimum term of incarceration of not less than ten (10) years, unless another\nsentencing scheme applies. A violent offender who is found to be a persistent\nfelony offender in the first degree shall not be eligible for parole except as provided\nin KRS 439.3401.\n(8) A conviction, plea of guilty, or Alford plea under KRS 218A.1415 shall not trigger\nthe application of this section, regardless of the number or type of prior felon y\nconvictions that may have been entered against the defendant. A conviction, plea of\nguilty, or Alford plea under KRS 218A.1415 may be used as a prior felony offense\nallowing this section to be applied if he or she is subsequently convicted of a\ndifferent felony offense.\n(9) The provisions of this section amended by 1994 Ky. Acts ch. 396, sec. 11, shall be\nretroactive.\n(10) (a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this subsection, this section shall not\napply to a person convicted of a criminal offense if the penalty for that offense\nwas increased from a misdemeanor to a felony, or from a lower felony\nclassification to a higher felony classification, because the conviction\nconstituted a second or subsequent violation of that offense.\n(b) This subsection s hall not prohibit the application of this section to a person\nconvicted of:\n1. A felony offense arising out of KRS 189A.010, 189A.090, 506.140,\n508.032, 508.130, or 510.015; or\n2. Any other felony offense if the penalty was not enhanced to a higher\nlevel b ecause the Commonwealth elected to prosecute the person as a\nfirst-time violator of that offense.","path":["KRS Chapter 532"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=57448","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T21:00:05Z","sha256":"e51e089ab149c2304dbd162b2274302d8c3c1c8ddffd9d57b9a9f88c7d150bb1","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-532.075","next":"us-ky/krs-532.090"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}