{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-533.020","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 533.020","heading":"Probation and conditional discharge.","body":"(1) When a person who has been convicted of an offense or who has entered a plea of\nguilty to an offense is not sentenced to imprisonment, the court shall place him or\nher on probation if he or she is in need of the supervision, guidance, assistance, or\ndirection that the probation service can provide. Conditions of probation shall be\nimposed as provided in KRS 533.030, but the court may modify or enlarge the\nconditions or, if the defendant commits an additional offense or violates a\ncondition, revoke the sente nce at any time prior to the expiration or termination of\nthe period of probation. When setting conditions under this subsection, the court\nshall not order any defendant to pay incarceration costs or any other cost permitted\nto be ordered under KRS 533.010  or other statute, except restitution and any costs\nowed to the Department of Corrections, through the circuit clerk.\n(2) When a person who has been convicted of an offense or who has entered a plea of\nguilty to an offense is not sentenced to imprisonment,  the court may sentence him\nor her to probation with an alternative sentence if it is of the opinion that the\ndefendant should conduct himself or herself according to conditions determined by\nthe court and that probationary supervision alone is insufficien t. The court may\nmodify or enlarge the conditions or, if the defendant commits an additional offense\nor violates a condition, revoke the sentence at any time prior to the expiration or\ntermination of the alternative sentence.\n(3) When a person who has been  convicted of an offense or who has entered a plea of\nguilty to an offense is not sentenced to imprisonment, the court may sentence him\nor her to conditional discharge if it is of the opinion that the defendant should\nconduct himself or herself according t o conditions determined by the court but that\nprobationary supervision is inappropriate. Conditions of conditional discharge shall\nbe imposed as provided in KRS 533.030, but the court may modify or enlarge the\nconditions or, if the defendant commits an add itional offense or violates a\ncondition, revoke the sentence at any time prior to the expiration or termination of\nthe period of conditional discharge.\n(4) (a) The period of probation, probation with an alternative sentence, or conditional\ndischarge shall be fixed by the court and at any time may be extended or\nshortened by a duly entered court order or as modified by the Department of\nCorrections through the application of probation program credits under KRS\n439.268.\n(b) 1. Any period of supervision impose d under paragraph (a) of this\nsubsection, with extensions thereof, shall not exceed five (5) years, or\nthe time necessary to complete restitution, whichever is longer, upon\nconviction of a felony, nor two (2) years, or the time necessary to\ncomplete restit ution, whichever is longer, upon conviction of a\nmisdemeanor.\n2. If a violation of any condition imposed by the court during a period of\nsupervision imposed under paragraph (a) of this subsection is alleged to\nhave occurred within the last sixty (60) days of the period of\nsupervision, the court shall have sixty (60) days after the expiration of\nthe period of supervision imposed under paragraph (a) of this subsection\nto determine if a violation occurred and the appropriate action for the\nviolation.\n(c) 1. If a defendant who is subject to a period of supervision under paragraph\n(a) of this subsection is alleged to have committed a violation of the\nconditions imposed by the court, and a warrant has been issued by the\ncourt based on an allegation of that violati on, the time between the\nissuance of the warrant and the defendant's first appearance before the\ncourt after service of that warrant shall be tolled and not count towards\nany period of supervision imposed under paragraph (a) of this\nsubsection, unless the court finds that the defendant did not violate any\ncondition imposed by the court.\n2. The court shall have sixty (60) days after the defendant's first\nappearance to schedule and complete any proceedings related to an\nalleged violation described in subparagraph 1. of this paragraph.\n(d) Upon completion of the probationary period, probation w ith an alternative\nsentence, or the period of conditional discharge, the defendant shall be\ndeemed finally discharged, provided no warrant issued by the court is pending\nagainst him or her, and probation, probation with an alternative sentence, or\nconditional discharge has not been revoked.\n(5) Notwithstanding the fact that a sentence to probation, probation with an alternative\nsentence, or conditional discharge can subsequently be modified or revoked, a\njudgment that includes such a sentence shall constitu te a final judgment for\npurposes of appeal.","path":["KRS Chapter 533"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=57835","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T21:00:06Z","sha256":"42d9cf742f242b077a344ae06413100725bcac3511d78b80a0e66146a14f0373","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-533.017","next":"us-ky/krs-533.025"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}