{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-6.744","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 6.744","heading":"Prohibitions against influencing state agency and appearing as a paid expert","body":"witness before state agency -- Restriction of representation of clients before\nstate agency or in court -- Penalties.\n(1) A legislator, by himself or through others, shall not use or attempt to use any means\nto influence a state agency in direct contravention of the public interest at large.\n(a) Absent an express threat of legislative reprisal, nothing in this subsection shall\nprevent a legislator from contacting a stat e agency on behalf of a person or\nconstituent, to make a legislative inquiry, or to obtain information relating to a\nperson or constituent who has requested legislative assistance and given\nwritten or verbal consent for a member to make an inquiry on his o r her\nbehalf.\n(b) Violation of this subsection is ethical misconduct.\n(2) A legislator shall not, for compensation, appear before a state agency as an expert\nwitness. A violation of this subsection is ethical misconduct.\n(3) A legislator who is properly li censed may, for compensation, represent a client\nbefore a state agency in:\n(a) A ministerial function which does not require discretion on the part of the\nagency, including but not limited to:\n1. Filing corporation charters, reports, and other papers;\n2. Filing tax returns;\n3. Filing reports required by a state agency; and\n4. Filing an application to participate in a state or state -administered\nfederal program, generally available to similar classes of persons or\nbusiness entities;\n(b) An adversarial proceeding and negotiations related thereto;\n(c) Workers' compensation and special fund proceedings;\n(d) Unemployment compensation proceedings; and\n(e) All other matters, unless the representation is prohibited by subsections (5) to\n(7) of this section or the code of professional conduct observed by the\nprofession being practiced.\n(4) A legislator who is properly licensed may, for compensation, represent a client\nbefore a court or trial commissioner in any proceeding not prohibited by the\nKentucky Rules of Professional Conduct or by subsections (5) to (7) of this section.\n(5) Other t han for a ministerial function provided for under subsection (3) of this\nsection, even though properly licensed, a legislator shall not, for compensation,\nrepresent or engage in negotiations on behalf of a client before or with a state\nagency in proceedings related to the following matters:\n(a) Contracting for the purchase, sale, rental, or lease of real property, goods, or\nservices from a state agency;\n(b) Any proceeding relating to ratemaking;\n(c) Adoption, amendment, or repeal of any administrative regulation;\n(d) Obtaining grants of money or loans;\n(e) Licensing or permitting, however, a legislator may represent a client in a\nministerial function regarding licensing and permitting, adversarial matters\nrelated to a previously issued license or permit, or matters related to driver\nlicensing; or\n(f) Any proceeding before the Public Service Commission.\n(6) A legislator who is licensed in any profession shall not, for compensation, represent\nthe Commonwealth or any state agency.\n(7) A legislator who is an attorney shall not for compensation maintain an action for the\npurpose of receiving money damages against the Commonwealth in which the\nCommonwealth is the principal defendant or against a state agency in which the\nagency is the principal defendant. This subsection shall not apply to:\n(a) An appeal of an action by the state against the client;\n(b) Cases before the Workers' Compensation Board, including cases in which the\nspecial fund is a party; and\n(c) Unemployment compensation cases.\n(8) A legislator who is p roperly licensed who has a partner who is also properly\nlicensed and whose partner practices cases which the legislator is precluded from\nhandling under the provisions of this section shall report to the commission in the\nreport required under KRS 6.787, t he names of the agencies before which the\npartners practiced and the names of the clients represented by the partners.\n(9) A legislator shall not receive or enter into any express or implied agreement to\nreceive compensation for services to be rendered in relation to any case,\nproceeding, application, or other matter before any state agency, in which his\ncompensation is to be dependent or contingent upon any action by the agency.\nViolation of this subsection is ethical misconduct.\n(10) If a legislator consi ders entering into an agreement for compensation for\nrepresenting any person in any transaction involving the state, he shall consider the\nfollowing factors:\n(a) Whether the matter is being brought to him in an attempt to obtain improper\ninfluence over the state agency;\n(b) Whether there is a reasonable possibility that the action of the state agency\nwill be unduly influenced because of his participation; or\n(c) The effect of his participation on public confidence in the integrity of the\nLegislature.","path":["KRS Chapter 6"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=55535","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:48:25Z","sha256":"bbe403a7d8e7154905c41d03454f15f67befe1090efaa62fc5869b54b00288c7","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-6.741","next":"us-ky/krs-6.747"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}