AN ACT relating to the removal of persons unlawfully occupying real property.

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AN ACT relating to the removal of persons unlawfully occupying real property. 1
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 2
Section 1. KRS 383.290 is amended to read as follows: 3
(1) As used in this section: 4
(a) "Immediate family member" means a spouse, parent, sibling, child, mother -5
in-law, father-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, grandparent, or grandchild; 6
and 7
(b) "Law enforcement officer" means a: 8
1. Person who is employed as a sworn law enforcement officer by a city, 9
county, urban -county government, consolidated local government, or 10
charter county government law enforcement agency; 11
2. Sheriff or full-time deputy sheriff; or 12
3. Constable granted police powers. 13
(2) A property owner or his or her authorized agent may request a law enforcement 14
agency[officer] to immediately remove a person or persons unlawfully occupying 15
real property pursuant to this section if: 16
(a) The unauthorized person is not and nev er has been a tenant of the premises, 17
and never had a written or oral agreement authorized by the property owner to 18
occupy the premises; 19
(b) The real property was not open to members of the public at the time the 20
unauthorized person or persons entered; 21
(c) The property owner has directed the unauthorized person to leave the 22
property; 23
(d) The unauthorized person or persons are not immediate family members of the 24
property owner; and 25
(e) There is no pending litigation related to the real property between the property 26
owner and any known unauthorized person. 27
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(3) The request for immediate removal of an unlawful occupant of real property under 1
subsection (2) of this section shall be made by presenting a completed Petition to 2
Remove Persons Unlawfully Occupying Rea l Property to the responding law 3
enforcement officer. The submitted petition shall be in substantially the following 4
form: 5
"PETITION TO REMOVE PERSONS UNLAWFULLY OCCUPYING REAL 6
PROPERTY 7
I, the owner or authorized agent of the owner of the real property lo cated at ...., 8
declare that (initial each box): 9
1. .... I am the owner of the real property or the authorized agent of the owner of 10
the real property. 11
2. .... I obtained title to the property on or about..... 12
3. .... An unauthorized person or persons ha ve unlawfully entered and are 13
remaining or residing unlawfully on the real property. 14
4. .... The real property was not open to members of the public at the time the 15
unauthorized person or persons entered. 16
5. .... I have directed the unauthorized person o r persons to leave the real 17
property, but they have not done so. 18
6. .... The unauthorized person or persons sought to be removed are not an owner 19
or a co -owner of the property and have not been listed on the title to the property 20
unless the person or persons have engaged in title fraud. 21
7. .... The unauthorized person or persons are not immediate family members of 22
the property owner. 23
8. .... There is no litigation related to the real property pending between the 24
property owner and any person sought to be removed. 25
9. .... I understand that a person or persons removed from the property pursuant 26
to this procedure may bring a cause of action against me for any false statements 27
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made in this petition, or for wrongfully using this procedure, and that as a resul t of 1
such action I may be held liable for actual damages, penalties, costs, and reasonable 2
attorney's fees. 3
10. .... I am requesting the law enforcement officer to immediately remove the 4
unauthorized person or persons from the property. 5
11. .... A copy o f my valid government -issued identification is attached, or I am 6
an agent of the property owner, and documents evidencing my authority to act on 7
the property owner's behalf are attached. 8
I HAVE READ EVERY STATEMENT MADE IN THIS PETITION AND EACH 9
STATEMENT IS TRUE AND CORRECT.["] 10
.................... (signature of property owner or agent of owner)" 11
(4) (a) Upon receipt of a petition in accordance with subsection (3) of this section, 12
the responding law enforcement officer shall verify the identity of the 13
petitioner. The petitioner's identity may be verified by presentation of a 14
government-issued photo identification. 15
(b) If the identity of the petitioner is verified, the responding law enforcement 16
officer shall, without unnecessary delay, serve a notice to immediately vacate 17
the property on all the unlawful occupants and shall put the owner in 18
possession of the real property. 19
(c) The service required in paragraph (b) of this subsect ion may be accomplished 20
by hand delivery of the notice to an unlawful occupant or by posting the 21
notice in a conspicuous location on the real property. 22
(d) The law enforcement officer serving the notice shall attempt to verify the 23
identity of all persons o ccupying the real property and note the identities on 24
the return of service. If appropriate, the law enforcement officer may arrest 25
any person found on the real property for trespass, outstanding warrants, or 26
any other legal cause. 27
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(e) A law enforcement of ficer acting in good faith under this subsection shall be 1
immune from criminal and civil liability. 2
(5) (a) The sheriff or constable may charge a fee of twenty dollars ($20) for service 3
of the notice to immediately vacate the property. 4
(b) After the law en forcement officer serves the notice to immediately vacate the 5
property, the property owner or authorized agent may request that the law 6
enforcement officer remain at the premises to keep the peace while the 7
property owner or agent changes the locks and rem oves the personal property 8
of the unlawful occupants from the premises to or near the property line. 9
(c) The property owner or his or her authorized agent acting in good faith shall be 10
immune from criminal and civil liability due to the loss of, destructio n of, or 11
damage to the personal property of the unlawful occupants unless the removal 12
is found to be wrongful under subsection (6) of this section. 13
(6) (a) A person may bring a civil cause of action against a petitioner alleging 14
wrongful removal under this section. A person harmed by a wrongful removal 15
under this section may be restored to possession of the real property. A 16
prevailing plaintiff shall be entitled to an award of court costs and reasonable 17
attorney's fees in addition to other appropriate relief. 18
(b) An action for wrongful removal under this section shall be filed in the District 19
Court of the county in which the property is located. 20
(c) The action for wrongful removal shall be commenced within sixty (60) days 21
after the wrongful removal. 22
(7) This section shall not bar a property owner from bringing a civil cause of action 23
against any unauthorized person for property damage, deprivation of use of 24
property, and any other relief to which the property owner may be entitled. 25
(8) The Department of Kentu cky State Police shall create a form containing the text of 26
the petition as described in subsection (3) of this section and publicly post the form 27
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it on its website .[; provided,] However,[ that] an owner's petition is not required to 1
appear on the Department of Kentucky State Police form to be valid. 2
(9) The procedures established in this section are not applicable to, and shall not be 3
enforced against, a person who is a current or former tenant of the premises or who 4
once had an agreement with the property owner that permitted the person to occupy 5
the premises. 6