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Kentucky Legal Research Guide

Kentucky Regulations

The legislature often passes broad based legislation that establishes a regulatory scheme. The nuts and bolts of the scheme will often not appear in the KRS. It is left to Kentucky's administrative agencies to flesh out these laws and carry out the will of the legislature. The agencies do this by promulgating regulations. Regulations have the same force and effect as any law passed by the legislature.

Kentucky administrative regulations can be found in the Kentucky Administrative Regulations (KAR). The KAR is issued annually and is available both in print and online. It is broken up into title, chapter and section numbers. The Kentucky Administrative Regulations Service is the official state publication of administrative regulations.

The Administrative Register of Kentucky (ARK) contains regulations proposed by the state’s administrative agencies and serves as public notice of those proposed regulations. The ARK is published on the first day of each month and is used to update the KAR. The ARK is available both in print and online.

Citation Rules

Finding Kentucky Regulations - Print

1. To find a Kentucky regulation use the KAR (Call Number KFK1275 1975.A213, Location LAW States). Turn to the Index located in the last volume of the set.

2. Locate the word(s) and phrases associated with your legal question, and write down the citation to the relevant section in the KAR. For example, if you wanted to find the regulations dealing with the issuance of coupons under the food stamp program, the index would lead you to 921 KAR 3:045.

3. Go to the volume of the KAR which has your Title and Chapter in it, and look up the relevant section

4. There are no pocket parts to update the KAR. The KAR is updated by the monthly Administrative Register of Kentucky (Call Number KFK1236. A35, Location LAW States). In the back of each issue is a cumulative table, Locator Index-Effective Dates, listing which regulations have been amended, repealed etc., and in which volume of the Register to look in to see the change. To update a regulation go to the most recent issue of the Register and check the Locator Index to see if your particular regulation has been changed.

Finding Kentucky Regulations - Online

The KAR is available for free over the Internet, courtesy of the Legislative Research Commission. The KAR on the Internet is updated monthly. It is also available to University of Cincinnati students and faculty through Westlaw and Lexis Advance.

To access the KAR through Westlaw:

1. Go to Kentucky Regulations (KY-ADC).

2. Search using terms and connectors, natural language or the table of contents.

3. Update the KAR using the Administrative Register of Kentucky online or in print (Call Number KFK1236. A35, Location LAW States).

 

To access the KAR through Lexis Advance:

1. Log on to Lexis and select Browse Sources.

2. Search for KY - Kentucky Administrative Regulations.

3. Select View Table of Contents.

4. Search within the Table of Contents and Documents using terms and connectors or natural language.

5. Update the KAR using the Administrative Register of Kentucky online or in print (Call Number KFK1236. A35, Location LAW States).

Comparative Chart - Print v Electronic Kentucky Administrative Regulations

Available Features

Print (Kentucky Administrative Regulations Service)

Westlaw

Lexis

Legislative Research Commission

Terms & Connector Searching

N

Y

Y

Limited

Natural Language Searching

N

Y

Y

Y

Table of Contents Searching

Y

Y

Y

Y

Database Scope of Coverage

N

Y

Y

Y

Keycite/Shepard’s

N

N

N

N

Book Browse

Y

Y

Y

N

Official Version

Y

N

N

N

Administrative Register of Kentucky (ARK)

Y

N

N

N

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