Kentucky Arrest Records
How to Look Up Arrest Records in Kentucky
The KY justice system maintains all criminal records reports and provides them upon request to the general public. They offer them to government agencies, businesses, individuals and others for a fee of $25 per report. Their system contains millions of records including felonies, misdemeanors and citations. Only arrests that resulted in convictions will show up on these Kentucky arrest records reports.
Are Kentucky Arrest Records Public?
Yes, however, only specific law enforcement agencies have the ability to supply them. There is also a $20 fee for each inmate search report. Individuals wishing to request a copy must fill out specific forms and submit them online or by mail. The results will be mailed back to you within ten business days. They have many forms available for different purposes like one for housing, childcare, adoption and licensing.
Victims & Offenders by Gender and Race
Offenders by Race
| White | 53% | |
| Black or African American | 43% | |
| Unknown | 3% | |
| Native Hawaiian | 0% | |
| Offenders w/ reported race | 3,562 | |
Victims by Race
| White | 68% | |
| Black or African American | 30% | |
| Unknown | 2% | |
| Asian | 1% | |
| Native Hawaiian | 0% | |
| Victims w/ reported race | 3,765 | |
What Information You Can Find in a state Criminal Report?
Kentucky arrest records will show a lot of criminal history information like arrests, convictions, charges, sentencing, disposition, bail, bond, fees, and other fines paid. Also included will be the date and place of arrest, the officer’s name and badge number, arresting agency, mugshots, booking details and any vehicles involved. General profile information such as name, phone, address, gender, race, height, weight, other physical description, mug shots and fingerprints will also be included.
Kentucky State Police Reports and Mugshots
Are Police Reports Public Record in Kentucky?
Kentucky offers police reports to the general public as open records. The Louisville Police Department provides three different methods of obtaining police records, and you can get either accident reports, incident or offense police reports through the following methods:
- “Electronically: Accident Report (There is a $10 fee for each report. Payments can be made using MasterCard, Visa, Discover Card, American Express, or PayPal.
- Electronically: Incident or Offense Police Report (There is a $10 fee for each report. Payments can be made using MasterCard, Visa, Discover Card, American Express, or PayPal.)
- In-person: There is a $5 fee for an accident report and a $1.00 fee for an incident or offense report. You can pick up reports in person at:
- 701 West Ormsby Avenue
- Suite 001
- Louisville, KY 40202.”
You may need to provide the date, time, and place of the incident and the name(s) of the person(s) involved. They do warn that accident reports are not considered public records, so they can only be obtained by someone involved in the crash.
Kentucky Mugshots
Kentucky uses mugshots liberally online in their criminal database searches and other police news. Additionally, news outlets, media sources (such as radio or TV), and private websites also may have a collection of Kentucky mugshots available. They are pretty easy to come by visiting and making a request through official law enforcement channels.
Mugshots originated in the 1800s when French policeman Alphonse Bertillon made taking two photos of a suspect (both front and side) part of the regular booking process. The slang term for a face back then was “mug,” thus the nickname mugshots. These police photos are used in most countries to document a criminal’s appearance visually and with witnesses and victims to identify suspects.
Kentucky Bookings and Arrests
The Kentucky arrest and booking process is similar to most other areas of the country. When someone is arrested either on a warrant or after committing a crime. They are taken to the county jail and booked. The booking process may consist of some of the following:
- Police question the suspect to obtain basic information like name, address, date of birth, etc.
- They also take mugshots of the individual.
- A police officer will fingerprint them and add those to the file.
- They may be searched for contraband and their belongings taken and stored for them.
- They may be provided with a jail uniform.
- Most suspects will be granted one phone call to a lawyer, friend, or family member.
- They may be asked for a pretrial interview. They can refuse and remain silent.
- A pretrial officer will conduct a thorough background check looking for any previous criminal history or outstanding warrants.
- Within 24-hours, they will go before the judge to have bail set and their initial hearing.
Some people will be released on bail by the judge, and some may remain in jail until the duration of their trial.
Violent Crime Rates for the last 10 years
The crime rate has decreased over the past decade in Kentucky, going from 8,159 crimes in 2006 to 8,109 by 13% lower than it was back in 2006. The largest percentage of violent crimes falls into the Aggravated Assault category, with Revised Rape being the least popular crime in the state.
Laws Related to Arrest Records in Kentucky
A peace officer in this state can arrest someone per an arrest warrant. They can also arrest someone without a warrant if a felony or misdemeanor is committed in their presence. They can arrest someone if they have probable cause that they are physically a danger to someone in their household or a sex offender. An officer can also arrest someone without a warrant in a hospital if they have violated various laws. Law officers here can even arrest someone they suspect of violating parole or probation.
Who has a Power of Arrest?
In this state, only peace officers have the authority to arrest you. Along with them, private citizens can arrest a person if a felony has been committed and they have probable cause to suspect that someone did it. Also, if they witness a felony being committed, they can take the person into custody and turn them over to the police. Peace officers consist of KY Horse Park officers, state police, local police officers, park rangers, and full-time university security officers, sheriff and deputy sheriff along with a full-time person working at the Division of Law Enforcement within the Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources.
How Long Will a Kentucky Arrest Report Stay on Criminal History Report?
Except for cases where there is only one misdemeanor, which must be expunged automatically, felonies and misdemeanors will stay on someone’s criminal record forever unless they apply to have them expunged. First, they must comply with the expungement requirements according to KY law.
Can you Expunge your KY Records?
Yes. If someone has more than one misdemeanor, they must wait five years and then can petition the court to have them removed. It costs $100 each time someone applies. Before applying though, they cannot have any pending charges or active convictions. Only Class D felonies are eligible for expungement. Everyone must also wait for the five-year waiting period and be free of any further convictions. It costs $500 to apply for a felony expungement.
The Arrest Rate in Kentucky
In KY, for 2017, 282,360 serious crimes were committed in the state. 58% of all homicides in the state were committed using a gun. 43% of all violent crimes resulted in arrests. For that year, there were 23,357 DUIs, and 107,736 were drug violations. There were a total of 504,580 arrests made in KY for 2017. Approximately every 3 hours someone committed robbery and every 1.75 hours, someone committed a sex crime. Cars were stolen every 48 minutes.
State Offender and Victim Age Group Statistics
Most of the violent crime offenders in Kentucky were 20-29 and the largest percentage of violent crime victims were 20-29.
Offender Age
| Unknown | 8.9% | |
| 0-9 | 0.3% | |
| 10-19 | 20.4% | |
| 20-29 | 30.0% | |
| 30-39 | 21.3% | |
| 40-49 | 11.0% | |
| 50-59 | 6.0% | |
| 60-69 | 1.7% | |
| 70-79 | 0.3% | |
| 80-89 | 0.1% | |
| 90-99 | 0.0% | |
| Offenders w/ reported age | 9,846 | |
Victim Age
| 0-9 | 6.6% | |
| 10-19 | 18.3% | |
| 20-29 | 27.1% | |
| 30-39 | 19.8% | |
| 40-49 | 13.9% | |
| 50-59 | 9.2% | |
| 60-69 | 3.7% | |
| 70-79 | 1.1% | |
| 80-89 | 0.3% | |
| 90-99 | 0.1% | |
| Victims w/ reported age | 10,651 | |
Crime Victim Demographics
Residence Home is the place where the majority of crimes in Kentucky were committed, in most of the crime cases the offender was a stranger.
Location Type
| Residence Home | 5,450 | |
| Highway/Alley/Street/Sidewalk | 2,244 | |
| Parking Garage/Lot | 757 | |
| Department/Discount Store | 377 | |
| Convenience Store | 354 | |
| Gas Station | 234 | |
| Hotel/Motel | 227 | |
| Restaurant | 225 | |
| Unknown | 213 | |
| Grocery Store | 170 |
Victim’s Relationship to the Offender
| Stranger | 3,769 | |
| Acquaintance | 2,470 | |
| Relationship Unknown | 1,094 | |
| Boyfriend/Girlfriend | 982 | |
| Otherwise Known | 768 | |
| Friend | 406 | |
| Child | 341 | |
| Other Family Member | 298 | |
| Spouse | 265 | |
| Neighbor | 191 |
Kentucky Arrest Records by Type of Crime
The popular arrests for 2017 in Kentucky was for All Other Offenses (except traffic) - 115,268, the same popularity of the arrest type was seen in Alabama, Alaska, and Arizona. The least popularity had Curfew and Loitering Law Violations arrests - with only 4 crimes a year.
| Arrest Type | Under 18 | All ages | Total arrests |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent Crime | 393 | 3,398 | 3,791 |
| Property Crime | 1,414 | 17,117 | 18,531 |
| Murder & Non-negligent Manslaughter | 26 | 185 | 211 |
| Rape | 24 | 212 | 236 |
| Robbery | 212 | 987 | 1,199 |