process agent.
Any nonresident operator or owner of any motor vehicle who accepts the privilege
extended by the laws of this state to nonresidents to operate motor vehicles or have them
operated within state shall, by such acceptance and by the operation of such motor vehicle
within this state, make the Secretary of State the agent of himself or his personal
representative for the service of process in any civil action instituted in the courts of this
state against the operator or owner, or the personal representative of the operator or
owner, arising out of or by reason of any accident or collision or damage occurring within
this state in which the motor vehicle is involved.
History: Amended 1960 Ky. Acts ch. 119, sec. 1. -- Amended 1954 Ky. Acts ch. 22,
sec. 1. -- Recodified 1942 Ky. Acts ch. 208, sec. 1, effective October 1, 1942, from
Ky. Stat. sec. 12-1.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
6
cases (
2 in the last 5 years), 1956–2025 · leading case:
Fann v. McGuffey, 534 S.W.2d 770 (Ky. Ct. App. 1975).
Fann v. McGuffey, 534 S.W.2d 770 (Ky. Ct. App. 1975).
· cites it 4× “To the argument that the doctrine of implied consent is supported by the constitutionality of the Non-Resident Motor Vehicle Operator's Act, KRS 188.020, the Long Arm Statute, KRS 454.”
Williams v. Carter Bros. Co., 390 S.W.2d 873 (Ky. Ct. App. 1965).
· cites it 3× “Service of summons was had on the nonresident executor through the Secretary of State under KRS 188.020. After a jury trial, verdict and judgment were entered for Carter Brothers and McLaney for their damages against the Williams estate, and the death claim against Carter…”
Staples v. S. Fire & Cas. Co., 289 S.W.2d 512 (Ky. Ct. App. 1956).
“KRS 188.020 makes the Secretary of State an “agent (of nonresident motorists) for the service of process” in actions under the statute.”
Stout v. Sutton, 434 S.W.2d 316 (Ky. Ct. App. 1968).
· cites it 2× “Substituted service was had under the nonresident motorist statute, KRS 188.020. A motion to quash service of summons was sustained by the McCracken Circuit Court and this appeal results.”
Lauren Savage Individually v. Allstate Ins. Co. (Ky. Ct. App. 2021).
· cites it 2× “The Estate further relies on KRS 188.020, which provides that: Any nonresident operator or owner of any motor vehicle who accepts the privilege extended by the laws of this state to nonresidents to operate motor vehicles or have them operated within state shall, by such…”
Peachey v. Four D Trucking, INC. (E.D. Ky. 2025).
· cites it 2× “KRS § 188.020 Essentially, any nonresident who operates a motor vehicle within the Commonwealth of Kentucky agrees that the Kentucky Secretary of State becomes his agent for the purpose of service of process related to any civil action arising out of a collision occurring within…”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.