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HB582 • 2026

AN ACT relating to sports wagering.

AN ACT relating to sports wagering.

Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
D. Hale
Last action
2026-02-13
Official status
02/13/26: to Licensing, Occupations, & Administrative Regulations (H)
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

AN ACT relating to sports wagering.

AN ACT relating to sports wagering.

What This Bill Does

  • AN ACT relating to sports wagering.

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. 2026-02-13 Kentucky Legislative Research Commission

    to Licensing, Occupations, & Administrative Regulations (H)

  2. 2026-02-06 Kentucky Legislative Research Commission

    introduced in House to Committee on Committees (H)

Official Summary Text

AN ACT relating to sports wagering.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
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AN ACT relating to sports wagering. 1
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 2
Section 1. KRS 230.210 is amended to read as follows: 3
As used in this chapter, unless the context requires otherwise: 4
(1) "Advance deposit account wagering" means a form of pari -mutuel wagering in 5
which an individual may establish an account with a person or entity licensed by the 6
corporation, and may place a pari -mutuel wager through that account that is 7
permitted by law; 8
(2) "Advance deposit account wagering licensee" means a person or entity licensed by 9
the corporation to conduct advance deposit account wagerin g and accept deposits 10
and wagers, issue a receipt or other confirmation to the account holder evidencing 11
such deposits and wagers, and transfer credits and debits to and from accounts; 12
(3) "Amateur youth sporting event" means any sporting event in which an individual: 13
(a) Shall be less than eighteen (18) years of age to participate; and 14
(b) Is prohibited, as a condition of participating in the sporting event, from 15
receiving direct or indirec t compensation for the use of the individual's 16
athletic skill in any manner with respect to the sport in which the particular 17
sporting event is conducted; 18
(4) "Appaloosa race" or "Appaloosa racing" means that form of horse racing in which 19
each horse participating in the race is registered with the Appaloosa Horse Club of 20
Moscow, Idaho, and is mounted by a jockey; 21
(5) "Arabian" means a horse that is registered with the Arabian Horse Registry of 22
Denver, Colorado; 23
(6) "Association" means any person licensed by the Kentucky Horse Racing and 24
Gaming Corporation under KRS 230.300 and engaged in the conduct of a 25
recognized horse race meeting; 26
(7) "Charitable gaming" means gaming licensed by the corporation on and after July 1, 27
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2025, as authorized under this chapter and KRS Chapter 238; 1
(8) "Corporation" means the Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corporation; 2
(9) "Geofence" means a virtual geographic boundary defined by Global Positioning 3
System (GPS) or Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology; 4
(10) "Harness race" or "harness racing" means trotting and pacing races of the 5
standardbred horses; 6
(11) "Horse race meeting" means horse racing run at an association licensed and 7
regulated by the Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corporation, and may include 8
Thoroughbred, harness, Appaloosa, Arabian, paint, and quarter horse racing; 9
(12) "Host track" means the track conducting racing and offering its racing for intertrack 10
wagering, or, in the case of interstate wagering, means the Kentucky track 11
conducting racing and off ering simulcasts of races conducted in other states or 12
foreign countries; 13
(13) "Interstate wagering" means pari -mutuel wagering on simulcast horse races from a 14
track located in another state or foreign country by patrons at a receiving track or 15
simulcast facility; 16
(14) "Intertrack wagering" means pari -mutuel wagering on simulcast horse races from a 17
host track by patrons at a receiving track; 18
(15) "Kentucky paint horse, Appaloosa, and Arabian purse fund" means a purse fund 19
established to receive funds as spe cified in KRS 230.3771 for purse programs 20
established in KRS 230.446 to supplement purses for paint horse, Appaloosa, and 21
Arabian horse races. The purse program shall be administered by the Kentucky 22
Horse Racing and Gaming Corporation; 23
(16) "Kentucky quart er horse purse fund" means a purse fund established to receive 24
funds as specified in KRS 230.3771 for purse programs established in KRS 230.407 25
to supplement purses for quarter horse races. The purse program shall be 26
administered by the Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corporation; 27
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(17) "Kentucky resident" means: 1
(a) An individual domiciled within this state; 2
(b) An individual who maintains a place of abode in this state and spends, in the 3
aggregate, more than one hundred eighty-three (183) days of the calendar year 4
in this state; or 5
(c) An individual who lists a Kentucky address as his or her principal place of 6
residence when applying for an account to participate in advance deposit 7
account wagering; 8
(18) "Licensed facility for sports wagering" means the de signated areas to conduct 9
sports wagering for a track licensed to conduct sports wagering pursuant to KRS 10
230.811; 11
(19) "Licensed premises" means a track or simulcast facility licensed by the corporation 12
under this chapter; 13
(20) "Paint horse" means a horse registered with the American Paint Horse Association 14
of Fort Worth, Texas; 15
(21) "Pari-mutuel wagering," "pari -mutuel system of wagering," or "mutuel wagering" 16
each means any method of wagering previously or hereafter approved by the 17
corporation in which o ne (1) or more patrons wager on a horse race or races, 18
whether live, simulcast, or previously run. Wagers shall be placed in one (1) or 19
more wagering pools, and wagers on different races or sets of races may be pooled 20
together. Patrons may establish odds o r payouts, and winning patrons share in 21
amounts wagered including any carryover amounts, plus any amounts provided by 22
an association less any deductions required, as approved by the corporation and 23
permitted by law. Pools may be paid out incrementally over time as approved by 24
the corporation; 25
(22) "Person" means an individual, sole proprietorship, partnership, association, 26
fiduciary, corporation, limited liability company, or any other business entity; 27
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(23) "President" means the president of the Kentucky Ho rse Racing and Gaming 1
Corporation, who shall serve as chief executive officer of the corporation; 2
(24) "Principal" means any of the following individuals associated with a partnership, 3
trust, association, limited liability company, or corporation that is l icensed to 4
conduct a horse race meeting or an applicant for a license to conduct a horse race 5
meeting: 6
(a) The chairman and all members of the board of directors of a corporation; 7
(b) All partners of a partnership and all participating members of a limited 8
liability company; 9
(c) All trustees and trust beneficiaries of an association; 10
(d) The president or chief executive officer and all other officers, managers, and 11
employees who have po licymaking or fiduciary responsibility within the 12
organization; 13
(e) All stockholders or other individuals who own, hold, or control, either directly 14
or indirectly, five percent (5%) or more of stock or financial interest in the 15
collective organization; and 16
(f) Any other employee, agent, guardian, personal representative, or lender or 17
holder of indebtedness who has the power to exercise a significant influence 18
over the applicant's or licensee's operation; 19
(25) "Proof of wagers" includes any paper, card, cert ificate, token, or ticket, which 20
indicates the details of one (1) or more pari -mutuel wagers that were placed and, if 21
such wagers are successful, that winnings are due to the ticket holder from the 22
track; 23
(26) "Quarter horse" means a horse that is register ed with the American Quarter Horse 24
Association of Amarillo, Texas; 25
(27) "Receiving track" means a track where simulcasts are displayed for wagering 26
purposes. A track that submits an application for intertrack wagering shall meet all 27
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the regulatory criteria for granting an association license of the same breed as the 1
host track, and shall have a heated and air -conditioned facility that meets all state 2
and local life safety code requirements and seats a number of patrons at least equal 3
to the average daily attendance for intertrack wagering on the requested breed in the 4
county in which the track is located during the immediately preceding calendar 5
year; 6
(28) "Simulcast facility" means any facility approved pursuant to KRS 230.380 to 7
simulcast live racing and conduct pari-mutuel wagering on live racing; 8
(29) "Simulcasting" means the telecast of live audio and visual signals of horse races for 9
the purpose of pari-mutuel wagering; 10
(30) "Sporting event" means an event at which two (2) or more persons participate in 11
athletic contests, or an event that takes place in relation to athletic contests as 12
approved by the corporation, but shall not include horse racing or amateur youth 13
sports or athletic events in which the majority of participants are under the age of 14
eighteen (18) years; 15
(31) "Sports governing body" means the organization, league, or association that 16
oversees a sport, prescribes final rules, and enforces codes of conduct with respect 17
to such sport and participants therein; 18
(32) "Sports wagering" means the w agering conducted under this chapter on sporting 19
events or portions of sporting events [, or on the individual performance statistics of 20
athletes in a sporting event or combination of sporting events,] in conformance with 21
federal law and as authorized by the corporation pursuant to this chapter; 22
(33) "Sports wagering device": 23
(a) Means a mechanical, electrical, or computerized contrivance, terminal, 24
device, apparatus, software, piece of equipment, or supply approved by the 25
corporation for conducting sports wagering under this chapter; and 26
(b) Includes a personal computer, mobile device, or other device used in 27
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connection with sports wagering not conducted at a licensed facility for sports 1
wagering; 2
(34) "Sports wagering service provider" or "service provider" means a person authorized 3
to conduct or manage sports wagering through an agreement with a track and 4
provide these services at a licensed facility for sports wagering, simulcast facility, 5
or through a website or mobile interface approved by the corporation; 6
(35) "Telephone account wagering" means a form of pari -mutuel wagering where an 7
individual may deposit money in an account at a track and may place a wager by 8
direct telephone call or by communication through other electronic media owned by 9
the holder of the account to the track; 10
(36) "Thoroughbred race" or "Thoroughbred racing" means a form of horse racing in 11
which each horse participating in the race is a Thoroughbred, (i.e., meeting the 12
requirements of and registered with The Jockey Club of New York) and is mounted 13
by a jockey; 14
(37) "Track" means any association duly licensed by the Kentucky Horse Racing and 15
Gaming Corporation to conduct horse racing and includes: 16
(a) For facilities in operation as of 2010, the location and physical plant described 17
in the "Commonwealth of Kentucky Initial/Renewal Application for License 18
to Conduct Live Horse Racing, Simulcasting, and Pari -Mutuel Wagering," 19
filed for racing to be conducted in 2010; 20
(b) Real property of an association, if the association received or recei ves 21
approval from the corporation after 2010 for a location at which live racing is 22
to be conducted; or 23
(c) One (1) facility or real property that is: 24
1. Owned, leased, or purchased by an association within a sixty (60) mile 25
radius of the association's rac etrack but not contiguous to racetrack 26
premises, upon corporation approval; and 27
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2. Not within a sixty (60) mile radius of another licensed track premise 1
where live racing is conducted and not within a forty (40) mile radius of 2
a simulcast facility, unless any affected track or simulcast facility agrees 3
in writing to permit a noncontiguous facility within the protected 4
geographic area; 5
(38) "Unclaimed pari-mutuel winning ticket": 6
(a) Means the proof of wager that would require payment of winnings upon 7
submission to the track, but has been presumed abandoned under KRS 8
230.361; and 9
(b) Includes proof of wagers from live racing and simulcasting; and 10
(39) "Unredeemed pari-mutuel voucher": 11
(a) Means a voucher issued by a licensed track that evidences the value of funds 12
or credits available that a patron may use for placing pari -mutuel wagers on 13
live or previously run horse races, or which the patron may redeem for cash, 14
but has been presumed abandoned under KRS 230.361; and 15
(b) Does not include: 16
1. Any proof of wagers or any other information related to specific wagers 17
placed on live or historical horse racing; or 18
2. Any vouchers that were voluntarily surrendered for donation to charity 19
or similar purposes. 20
Section 2. KRS 230.805 is amended to read as follows: 21
(1) The corporation shall institute a system of sports wagering in conformance with 22
federal law, this chapter, and by administrative regulations promulgat ed under the 23
authority of KRS 230.215. 24
(2) Sports wagering shall not be offered in this state except as authorized by this 25
section and KRS 230.811. A track that holds a license to operate sports wagering 26
may contract with sports wagering service providers to conduct or manage sports 27
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wagering operations as authorized by this chapter. Sports wagering may be 1
provided at a licensed facility for sports wagering or online through a website or 2
mobile application. The licensed facility for sports wagering or a spor ts wagering 3
service provider may provide sports wagering through a website or mobile interface 4
as approved by the corporation. The corporation may provide temporary licenses to 5
licensed facilities for sports wagering or sports wagering service providers, i f the 6
corporation deems that the information submitted by them is sufficient to determine 7
the applicant's suitability. The corporation may promulgate administrative 8
regulations to establish the suitability for temporary and ordinary license 9
applications fo r licensed facilities for sports wagering, sports wagering service 10
providers, and any related parties. 11
(3) Sports wagering licensees and service providers that accept wagers online via 12
websites and mobile applications shall impose the following requirements: 13
(a) Prior to placing a wager online via websites or mobile applications operated 14
by either a sports wagering licensee or a service provider, a patron shall 15
register the patron's sports wagering account with the operating sports 16
wagering licensee or service provider either in person at a licensed facility for 17
sports wagering or remotely through the service provider's website or mobile 18
application; 19
(b) 1. The registration process shall include attestation that the patron meets 20
the requirements to place a w ager with a sports wagering licensee or 21
service provider in this state. 22
2. Prior to verification of a patron's identity, a sports wagering licensee or 23
service provider shall not allow the patron to engage in sports wagering, 24
make a deposit, or process a withdrawal via the patron's sports wagering 25
account. 26
3. A sports wagering licensee or service provider shall implement 27
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commercially and technologically reasonable procedures to prevent 1
access to sports wagering by any person under the age of twenty-one 2
(21)[eighteen (18)]: 3
a. At a licensed facility; and 4
b. Online via website or mobile application. 5
4. A sports wagering licensee or service provider may use information 6
obtained from third parties to verify that a person is authorized to open 7
an account, place wagers, and make deposits and withdrawals; 8
(c) A sports wagering licensee or service provider shall adopt an account 9
registration policy to ensure that all patrons are authorized to place a wager 10
with a sports wagering licensee or service provider within the Commonwealth 11
of Kentucky. This policy shall include, without limitation, a mechanism by 12
which to: 13
1. Verify the name and age of the patron; 14
2. Verify that the patron is not prohibited from placing a wager; and 15
3. Obtain the following information: 16
a. A physical address other than a post office box; 17
b. A phone number; 18
c. A unique user name; and 19
d. An email[e-mail] account; 20
(d) A sports wagering licensee or service provider shall use all commercially and 21
technologically reasonable means to ensure that each patron is limited to one 22
(1) account with that service provider in the Commonwealth, but nothing in 23
this paragraph restricts a patron from holding other sports wagering accounts 24
in other jurisdictions; 25
(e) A sports wagering licensee or service provider, in addition to complying with 26
state and federal law pertaining to the protection of the private, personal 27
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information of patron s, shall use all other commercially and technologically 1
reasonable means to protect this information consistent with industry 2
standards; 3
(f) A sports wagering licensee or service provider shall use all commercially and 4
technologically reasonable means to verify the identity of the patron making a 5
deposit or withdrawal; 6
(g) A sports wagering licensee or service provider shall utilize geolocation or 7
geofencing technology to ensure that wagers are only accepted from patrons 8
who are physically located in the Co mmonwealth. A sports wagering licensee 9
or service provider shall maintain in this state its servers used to transmit 10
information for purposes of accepting or paying out wagers on a sporting 11
event placed by patrons in this state; 12
(h) A patron may fund the patron's account using any acceptable form of payment 13
or advance deposit method, which shall include the use of cash, cash 14
equivalents, credit cards, debit cards, automated clearing house, other 15
electronic methods, and any other form of payment authorized b y the 16
corporation; and 17
(i) The corporation may enter into agreements with other jurisdictions or entities 18
to facilitate, administer, and regulate multijurisdictional sports betting by 19
sports betting operators to the extent that entering into the agreement is 20
consistent with state and federal laws and the sports betting agreement is 21
conducted only in the United States. 22
(4) A track may contract with no more than three (3) service providers at a time to 23
conduct and manage services and technology which support the operation of sports 24
betting both on the track and online via websites and mobile applications. The 25
website or mobile application used to offer sports betting shall be offered only 26
under the same brand as the track or that of the service provider contra cted with the 27
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track, or both. 1
(5) A track or service provider through an agreement with a licensed track shall not 2
offer sports wagering until the corporation has issued a sports wagering license to 3
the track, except for temporary licenses authorized under KRS 230.814. 4
(6) (a) A track licensed under KRS 230.811 may offer sports wagering at a facility 5
that meets the definition of "track" in KRS 230.210. 6
(b) A simulcast facility may offer sports wagering through an agreement with a 7
track by using any of that track's already established service providers. 8
(7) A sports wagering licensee or service provider shall not offer or accept any 9
proposition bets, including but not limited to individual performance statistics 10
and other events not tied to the final outcome of the game. 11
Section 3. KRS 2.015 is amended to read as follows: 12
Persons of the age of eighteen (18) years are of the age of majority for all purposes in this 13
Commonwealth except for the purchase of alcoholic beverages , sports wagering, and for 14
purposes of care and treatment of children with disabilities, for which twenty -one (21) 15
years is the age of majority, all other statutes to the contrary notwithstanding. 16