Kentucky Revised Statutes

Ky. Rev. Stat. § 160.020 (2026)

Composition of independent school districts

✓ current as of May 2026
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(1) All school districts embracing designated cities together with the territory within their limits, including any territory added for school purposes outside of the city limits, and all independent graded common school districts having a school census enumeration of two hundred (200) or more children, constitute independent school districts, except those which have merged with a county school district since June 14, 1934. No independent district other than a designated city shall continue to operate when its school census enumeration of children falls below two hundred (200) pupils unless it appears to the Kentucky Board of Education that the district can maintain a more efficient program of school service by operating as an independent district. (2) As used in this section, "designated city" means a city classified as a city of the first, second, third, fourth, or fifth class as of January 1, 2014, under the city classification system in effect prior to January 1, 2015. The Department of Education shall, on or before January 1, 2015, create an official registry listing the cities that qualify as a "designated city" under this section and shall publish that registry on its Web site. Effective: January 1, 2015 History: Amended 2014 Ky. Acts ch. 92, sec. 223, effective January 1, 2015. -- Amended 1996 Ky. Acts ch. 362, sec. 6, effective July 15, 1996. -- Amended 1990 Ky. Acts ch. 476, Pt. IV, sec. 224, effective July 13, 1990. -- Amended 1978 Ky. Acts ch. 155, sec. 82, effective June 17, 1978. -- Amended 1974 Ky. Acts ch. 49, sec. 2. -- Recodified 1942 Ky. Acts ch. 208, sec. 1, effective October 1, 1942, from Ky. Stat. sec. 4399-3.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 8 cases, 1946–1975 · leading case: Thomas v. Spragens, 213 S.W.2d 452 (Ky. Ct. App. 1948).
Thomas v. Spragens, 213 S.W.2d 452 (Ky. Ct. App. 1948). · cites it 3× “” KRS 160.020 establishes certain independent school districts in the following language: “All school districts embracing cities of the first five classes together with the territory within their limits, including any territory that has been added for school purposes outside of…”
Newburg Area Council, Inc. v. Bd. of Educ. of Jefferson Cnty., Kentucky, John L. Haycraft v. Bd. of Educ. of Louisville, Kentucky, 510 F.2d 1358 (6th Cir. 1975). “(6) The Louisville school district is an independent school district established in accordance with the requirements of Ky. Rev.Stat. § 160.020, which provides for independent school districts within a single county.”
Cawood v. Hensley, 247 S.W.2d 27 (Ky. Ct. App. 1952). “152, Constitution; KRS 160.020, 160.200; Ward v. Siler, 272 Ky.”
Schmidt v. Payne, 199 S.W.2d 990 (Ky. Ct. App. 1947). “See KRS 160.020. The school authorities in this district at Shelbyville have never furnished any school transportation to any of the pupils of their school during any of these years of this school’s autonomy.”
Bd. of Ed. of City of Corbin v. City of Corbin, 192 S.W.2d 951 (Ky. Ct. App. 1946). “010 and KRS 160.020. Although some of the independent districts are conterminous with cities of the Commonwealth, each is a municipality or political subdivision separate and distinct from such a city, and over which the city has no control.”
Brumleve v. Ruth, 195 S.W.2d 777 (Ky. Ct. App. 1946). “KRS 160.020, 160.210. The rest of the county as a unit is an educational district (KRS 160.”
Bd. of Educ. v. Bd. of Educ., 293 S.W.2d 568 (Ky. Ct. App. 1956). “The Independent District’s contention is based upon Section 4399-3 of Carroll’s Kentucky Statutes 1936, now KRS 160.020, which provides in part as follows: “All school districts embracing cities of the first five classes together with the territory within their limits, including…”
Nethery v. McMullen, 230 S.W.2d 79 (Ky. Ct. App. 1950). “The State Board of Education was directed by an Act of the 1934 Legislature, now KRS 160.020, to abolish such independent school districts whose white pupil census fell helow 250.”
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