ECIElection Campaign-Finance Index

KRS 121.150 ('Campaign contribution restrictions and expenditure limitations') codifies Kentucky's contribution-limit framework by statute, restricting the making and receiving of contributions and setting the maximum legal contribution per candidate per election. KRS 121.175 codifies allowable campaign expenditures. The limits are fixed in statute, not by administrative discretion.

KRS 121.250 codifies independent-expenditure rules: a political issues committee making independent expenditures must file certifications and meet reporting and recordkeeping requirements, and KRS 121.252 codifies the duties of persons making independent expenditures. KRS 121.150 separately recognizes the 'independent expenditure' as a distinct category. Independent-expenditure rules are codified.

KRS 121.150 requires that no contribution be 'made or received, directly or indirectly... except through the duly appointed campaign manager, or campaign treasurer' — channeling every contribution through an accountable treasurer and thereby barring unattributed (anonymous) contributions. A dedicated provision on the disposition of anonymous contributions was not separately surfaced.

KRS 121.180 codifies the reports required of candidates, slates, committees, and treasurers. Kentucky's itemization threshold — contributions in excess of $100 must be itemized with full contributor detail — is codified in KRS 121.120(4)(f); the specific threshold language was not cleanly surfaced for this datapoint.

KRS 121.180 codifies the campaign-finance filing schedule — the reports required of candidates, slates of candidates, committees, and treasurers, with pre-election, post-election, and periodic reporting obligations, penalties for non-filing, and electronic-reporting and 'no change since last report' provisions. An enumerated statutory filing schedule is codified.

KRS 121.120(4)(f) requires the Registry to compile, for each contribution in excess of $100 made to any candidate or campaign committee, 'the date, name, address, occupation, and employer of each contributor' (or, if self-employed, the business name). KRS 121.190 codifies identification of contributors and advertisers on political advertising. Contributor name, address, occupation, and employer disclosure is codified.

KRS 121.120 codifies public access to campaign-finance filings: the Registry must 'make each report filed available for public inspection' and, under subsection (6), make all reports for General Assembly and statewide candidates available on the Internet free of charge in a browsable, searchable, downloadable format 'no later than ten (10) business days after its receipt' (within 24 hours for late-filed data). Public online access within a defined time is codified.

KRS 121.990 codifies a graded campaign-finance penalty schedule with specified amounts and criminal grades — e.g. a corporation that knowingly violates the corporate-contribution ban is fined up to $10,000 and individuals are guilty of a Class D felony, with further enumerated fines and felony/misdemeanor grades for other Chapter 121 violations. KRS 121.175 adds penalties for impermissible expenditures. Specified civil amounts and criminal grades both codified.

KRS 121.120(5) codifies the enforcement independence of the Registry of Election Finance: 'all policy and enforcement decisions concerning the regulation of campaign finance shall be the ultimate responsibility of the registry,' no officeholder or other person may secure privileges or advantages that leave the Registry no alternative but to comply with their wishes, and Registry members and employees 'shall be free of obligation or the appearance of obligation to any interest other than the fair and efficient enforcement of the campaign finance laws.' Enforcement-body independence codified.

No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: KRS 121.140 allows any person to file a sworn complaint triggering a Registry investigation and administrative hearing, with judicial review of the final order. Enforcement civil actions, however, are brought by the Registry itself (KRS 121.256), not by private citizens, so no private right of action is codified.

KRS 121.254 codifies a foreign-source prohibition: 'a foreign national shall not, directly or indirectly... make a donation, contribution, or expenditure in support or opposition of a ballot measure.' KRS 121.250 bars a political issues committee from knowingly receiving foreign-national funds. Direct foreign-source contribution is prohibited by statute.

KRS 121.254 reaches indirect and pass-through foreign-source channels: a foreign national shall not 'directly or indirectly' make, solicit, or 'direct, dictate, control, or participate in another person's decision' to influence a ballot measure. KRS 121.252 reinforces this with a presumption-of-violation rule where a donor has knowingly accepted funds aggregating over $100,000 from a foreign national. Indirect/pass-through foreign rules codified.

No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: Kentucky codifies a foreign-national verification requirement — KRS 121.252 requires a political issues committee treasurer to obtain a donor affirmation that the donor is not a foreign national — but that section was not surfaced for this datapoint; the surfaced candidates (committee registration and definitions) do not codify foreign-source verification.

KRS 121.120 codifies records retention: the Registry must 'preserve all reports for at least six (6) years from the date of receipt' (subsection 4(e)) and must 'require that candidates and slates of candidates shall maintain their records for a period of six (6) years from the date of the regular election' (subsection 4(l)). A defined-period records-retention requirement is codified.

KRS 121.120 codifies mandatory and random audit access: the Registry must 'conduct random audits of receipts and expenditures' of committees (subsection 1(j)) and of candidates for local and district office (subsection 4(j)), and must 'conduct audits of receipts and expenditures of all candidates or slates of candidates running for statewide office' (subsection 4(k)). Statutory audit of campaign-committee records codified.