Foreign protective orders -- Rebuttable presumption of validity -- Enforcement -- Civil and criminal proceedings mutually exclusive
KRS 403.7521
in effect403.7521. Foreign protective orders -- Rebuttable presumption of validity -- Enforcement -- Civil and criminal proceedings mutually exclusive
(1) All foreign protective orders shall have the rebuttable presumption of validity. The validity of a foreign protective order shall only be determined by a court of competent jurisdiction. Until a foreign protective order is declared to be invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, it shall be given full faith and credit by all peace officers and courts in the Commonwealth.
(2) All peace officers shall treat a foreign protective order as a legal document valid in Kentucky, and shall make arrests for a violation thereof in the same manner as for a violation of an order of protection issued in Kentucky.
(3) The fact that a foreign protective order has not been entered into the Law Information Network of Kentucky shall not be grounds for a peace officer not to enforce the provisions of the order unless it is readily apparent to the peace officer to whom the order is presented that the order has either expired according to a date shown on the order, or that the order's provisions clearly do not prohibit the conduct being complained of. Officers acting in good faith shall be immune from criminal and civil liability.
(4) If the order has expired or its provisions do not prohibit the conduct being complained of, the officer shall not make an arrest unless the provisions of a Kentucky statute have been violated, in which case the peace officer shall take the action required by Kentucky law.
(5) Civil proceedings and criminal proceedings for violation of a foreign protective order for the same violation of the protective order shall be mutually exclusive. Once either proceeding has been initiated, the other shall not be undertaken, regardless of the outcome of the original proceeding.
Effective: January 1, 2016
History: Repealed and reenacted 2015 Ky. Acts ch. 102, sec. 10, effective January 1, 2016. -- Created 1996 Ky. Acts ch. 99, sec. 4, effective July 15, 1996.
Source: Kentucky Legislative Research Commission (legislature.ky.gov)URL: https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=44758Fetched: 10/20/2026