{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-81.060","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 81.060","heading":"Standards for incorporation -- Court considerations -- Judgment --","body":"Certification to Secretary of State.\n(1) At the hearing the court shall, if the proper notice has been given or publication\nmade, and no defense is interposed, enter a judgment establ ishing a city as\nrequested by the petition, filed pursuant to KRS 81.050, if the court finds as a\nmatter of law that the following standards have been met:\n(a) At least three hundred (300) persons reside in the territory sought to be\nincorporated;\n(b) Incorporation constitutes a reasonable way of providing the public services\nsought by the voters or property owners of the territory, and there is no other\nreasonable way of providing the services;\n(c) The territory is contiguous;\n(d) The territory is able to provide necessary city services to its residents within a\nreasonable period after its incorporation; and\n(e) The interest of other areas and adjacent local governments is not unreasonably\nprejudiced by the incorporation.\n(2) In determining whether the stan dards for incorporation have been met, the court\nshall consider, but shall not be limited to the consideration of the following criteria:\n(a) Whether the character of the territory is urban or rural;\n(b) The ability of any existing city, county or district to provide needed services;\n(c) Whether the territory and any existing city are interdependent or part of one\n(1) community;\n(d) The need for city services in the territory;\n(e) The development scheme of applicable land-use plans;\n(f) The area and topography of the territory; and\n(g) The effect of the proposed incorporation on the population growth and\nassessed valuation of the real property in the territory.\n(3) Defense may be made to the petition by any inhabitant of the proposed city, and if\ndefense is made, the court shall hear and determine the same, and render a judgment\nestablishing or refusing to establish a city, as may seem proper.\n(4) If the court render s judgment granting the petition, the order shall set out the name\nof the city, a metes and bounds description of its boundaries, the population\ncontained therein, the form of government under which the city shall operate, and\nthe class to which the city s hall be assigned by reason of its form of government as\nset out in KRS 81.005. The order shall appoint the officers appropriate to the class\nof the new city, who shall hold their respective offices until the next regular election\nat which city officers are  elected, at which time officers shall be elected by the\nresidents of the new city.\n(5) Whenever any city shall be established in the manner above provided, the court\nshall in the judgment direct the clerk of the court wherein such judgment is entered\nto, not later than ten (10) days thereafter, certify a copy thereof to the Secretary of\nState, whose duty it shall be to properly index and file the same as a permanent\nrecord in his office.","path":["KRS Chapter 81"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=43590","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:49:41Z","sha256":"f47761c4df8d3832d8bda770ffb25b168ba4c331aa78a09c00831d5ab7b526d6","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-81.050","next":"us-ky/krs-81.062"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}