Ky. Rev. Stat. » Chapter 186
Kentucky Revised Statutes

Ky. Rev. Stat. § 186.410 (2026)

Operators' license -- Requirements and issuance -- Personal identification

✓ current as of May 2026
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cards -- Driver training programs -- Application for travel ID or standard document -- Owner of motor vehicle considered operator when fully autonomous vehicle system engaged. (1) Except as provided in subsection (6) of this section, every person not exempted by KRS 186.420 and 186.430 shall, before operating a motor vehicle, motorcycle, or moped upon a highway, secure an operator's license as provided in this chapter. (2) Except as provided in KRS 186.4121, all original, renewal, and duplicate personal identification cards and licenses for the operation of motor vehicles or motorcycles shall be applied for with the Transportation Cabinet, or through alternative technology, and issued by the Transportation Cabinet. Subject to the provisions of KRS 186.4101, applications for renewal licenses and personal identification cards shall be made every eight (8) years within the birth month of the applicant. A license shall not be issued until the application has been certified by the cabinet and the applicant has, if required under KRS 186.635, successfully completed the examinations required under KRS 186.480. (3) All personal identification cards shall be issued under the provisions of KRS 186.4102, 186.4122, and 186.4123. (4) A person under the age of eighteen (18) years who applies for an instruction permit shall, at any time between the age of fifteen (15) years and before the person's eighteenth birthday, enroll in one (1) of the following driver training programs: (a) A driver's education course administered by a school district; (b) A driver training school licensed pursuant to KRS Chapter 332 which offers a course meeting or exceeding the minimum standards established by the Transportation Cabinet; or (c) State traffic school. The person may seek to enroll in state traffic school before the person's eighteenth birthday. Persons enrolling in state traffic school pursuant to this paragraph shall not be required to pay a fee. (5) Any applicant for any initial or renewal instruction permit, operator's license, or personal identification card under KRS 186.400 to 186.640 may apply for either: (a) A voluntary travel ID document; or (b) A standard document that does not meet standards for federal identification purposes. (6) When an automated driving system as defined in KRS 186.760 is installed on a motor vehicle and is engaged, and the motor vehicle is operating as a fully autonomous vehicle as defined in KRS 186.760, the: (a) Owner of the motor vehicle is considered the operator of the fully autonomous vehicle and shall comply with applicable traffic or motor vehicle laws, regardless of whether the owner is physically present in the vehicle while the vehicle is operating; and (b) Automated driving system is considered to be licensed to operate the vehicle and a licensed human operator is not required to operate the motor vehicle. Effective: March 25, 2025 History: Amended 2025 Ky. Acts ch. 81, sec. 2, effective March 25, 2025. -- Amended 2024 Ky. Acts ch. 123, sec. 16, effective July 15, 2024; and ch. 176, sec. 9, effective July 15, 2024. -- Amended 2020 Ky. Acts ch. 51, sec. 2, effective March 27, 2020. -- Amended 2017 Ky. Acts ch. 100, sec. 1, effective January 1, 2019. -- Amended 2006 Ky. Acts ch. 173, sec. 29, effective July 12, 2006. -- Amended 2002 Ky. Acts ch. 264, sec. 3, effective July 15, 2002. -- Amended 2000 Ky. Acts ch. 535, sec. 2, effective July 14, 2000. -- Amended 1996 Ky. Acts ch. 198, sec. 3, effective October 1, 1996. -- Amended 1994 Ky. Acts ch. 267, sec. 3, effective July 15, 1994. -- Amended 1982 Ky. Acts ch. 389, sec. 1, effective July 15, 1982. -- Amended 1978 Ky. Acts ch. 349, sec. 3, effective June 17, 1978; and ch. 434, sec. 1, effective June 17, 1978. -- Amended 1974 Ky. Acts ch. 74, Art. IV, sec. 20(7). -- Amended 1958 Ky. Acts ch. 60, sec. 1. -- Amended 1948 Ky. Acts ch. 208, secs. 1, 2, and 3. -- Amended 1946 Ky. Acts ch. 127, sec. 1. -- Amended 1944 Ky. Acts ch. 79, sec. 1. -- Recodified 1942 Ky. Acts ch. 208, sec. 1, effective October 1, 1942, from Ky. Stat. sec. 2739m-34.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 9 cases (3 in the last 5 years), 1944–2026 · leading case: Arnold v. Commonwealth, 109 S.W.3d 161 (Ky. Ct. App. 2003).
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Arnold v. Commonwealth, 109 S.W.3d 161 (Ky. Ct. App. 2003). “020, operating a vehicle -without an operator’s license (KRS 186.410)(1)), and having no automobile insurance (KRS 304.”
Vaughn v. Commonwealth, Transp. Cabinet, Div. of Driver's Licensing, 870 S.W.2d 231 (Ky. Ct. App. 1993). “This exemption is first noted in KRS 186.410 and sets out the general rule that every person operating a motor vehicle on the state’s highways must secure a Kentucky driver’s license.”
Howard v. Hicks, 737 S.W.2d 711 (Ky. Ct. App. 1987). “Hicks makes the argument that an operator of a moped must be licensed under KRS 186.410, therefore, he cannot be a “pedestrian.”
Commonwealth Transp. Cabinet v. Hobson, 870 S.W.2d 228 (Ky. Ct. App. 1993). “This exemption is first noted in KRS 186.410 and sets out the general rule that every person operating a motor vehicle on the state’s highways must secure a Kentucky driver’s license.”
Hopson v. Dep't of Revenue, 183 S.W.2d 812 (Ky. Ct. App. 1944). “” The first section of the Act, KRS 186.410, provides, among other things, that the clerk shall retain 10 cents of the cost of each license for maintaining the index.”
Diana Markle v. Commonwealth of Kentucky (Ky. Ct. App. 2021). “Eric Vanover from the Kentucky State 1 This charge was later amended to operating a motor vehicle without a license pursuant to KRS 186.410. -4- Police lab testified about the testing of the suspected drugs seized during the stop, confirming that the substances tested were…”
Alfonso Diaz Diaz v. Commonwealth of Kentucky (Ky. Ct. App. 2023). “6 KRS 186.410(1). -3- he was not fully aware of what the guilty plea meant and did not understand that he was being sentenced to twenty-five years in prison.”
Junel Methelus v. Markwayne Mullin, et al. (E.D. Ky. 2026). “As a result of the traffic stop, Petitioner was charged with a variety of traffic offenses including (1) no operators/moped license in violation of Kentucky Revised Statute (“KRS”) § 186.410(1); (2) fleeing or evading police, 2nd degree (motor vehicle) in violation of KRS § 520.”
Commonwealth Transp. Cabinet Dep't of Veh. Reg. v. Mullins, 812 S.W.2d 164 (Ky. Ct. App. 1991). “KRS 186.410. It requires no extensive legal training to understand the concept that the Legislature may attach various conditions to the extension of this privilege, one of which is that no intoxicated individual may do so, KRS 189.”
— Ky. Rev. Stat. § 186.410(1) — 2 cases
Alfonso Diaz Diaz v. Commonwealth of Kentucky (Ky. Ct. App. 2023). “6 KRS 186.410(1). -3- he was not fully aware of what the guilty plea meant and did not understand that he was being sentenced to twenty-five years in prison.”
Junel Methelus v. Markwayne Mullin, et al. (E.D. Ky. 2026). “As a result of the traffic stop, Petitioner was charged with a variety of traffic offenses including (1) no operators/moped license in violation of Kentucky Revised Statute (“KRS”) § 186.410(1); (2) fleeing or evading police, 2nd degree (motor vehicle) in violation of KRS § 520.”
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