{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-610.070","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 610.070","heading":"Hearings.","body":"(1) All cases involving children brought before the court whose cases are under the\njurisdiction of the court shall be granted a speedy hearing and shall be dealt with by\nthe court without a jury.\n(2) The hearings shall be conducted in a formal manner, unless specified to the contrary\nby other provisions of KRS Chapters 600 to 645.\n(3) The general public shall be excluded and only the immediate families or guardians\nof the parties before the court, witnesses necessary for the prosecution and defense\nof the case , the probation worker with direct interest in the case, a representative\nfrom the Department of Juvenile Justice, the victim, his or her parent or legal\nguardian, or if emancipated, his or her spouse, or a legal representative of either,\nsuch persons admitted as the judge shall find have a direct interest in the case or in\nthe work of the court, and such other persons as agreed to by the child and his or\nher attorney may be admitted to the hearing. A parent, legal guardian, or spouse if a\nwitness shall be admitted to the hearing only during and after his or her testimony at\nthe hearing, and witnesses shall be admitted to the hearing only for the duration of\ntheir testimony. The court may order the exclusion of a parent, legal guardian, or\nspouse, if it is s hown to the satisfaction of the court that the parent, legal guardian,\nor spouse may physically disrupt the proceedings or may do violence to any\nparticipant therein. The mere presence of a parent, legal guardian, or spouse shall\nnot be deemed to be a disr uption of the proceedings merely because their presence\nmay make the defendant uncomfortable; the court shall find a potential for actual\nphysical disruption of the proceedings before an exclusion may be granted for this\nreason.\n(4) The court shall order a t least one (1) parent, guardian, or person exercising\ncustodial control over the child to be present at any hearing or other proceeding\ninvolving the child. The court shall make accommodations necessary to allow the\nperson to attend, including but not limited to allowing remote attendance or holding\nhearings outside the court's normal operating hours.","path":["KRS Chapter 610"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=55437","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T21:00:07Z","sha256":"05294c630753926be3ef0f46f36e92416a791d1642a7d512dea6b53b194ff41a","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-610.060","next":"us-ky/krs-610.071"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}