(1) Anyone knowingly or wantonly violating the provisions of KRS 209.030(2) shall be guilty of a Class B misdemeanor as designated in KRS 532.090. Each violation shall constitute a separate offense.
(2) Any person who knowingly abuses or neglects an adult is guilty of a Class C felony.
(3) Any person who wantonly abuses or neglects an adult is guilty of a Class D felony.
(4) Any person who recklessly abuses or neglects an adult is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.
(5) Any person who knowingly exploits an adult, resulting in a total loss to the adult of more than three hundred dollars ($300) in financial or other resources, or both, is guilty of a Class C felony.
(6) Any person who wantonly or recklessly exploits an adult, resulting in a total loss to the adult of more than three hundred dollars ($300) in financial or other resources, or both, is guilty of a Class D felony.
(7) Any person who knowingly, wantonly, or recklessly exploits an adult, resulting in a total loss to the adult of three hundred dollars ($300) or less in financial or other resources, or both, is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.
(8) If a defendant is sentenced under subsection (5), (6), or (7) of this section and fails to return the victim's property as defined in KRS 218A.405 within thirty (30) days of an order by the sentencing court to do so, or is thirty (30) days or more delinquent in a court-ordered payment schedule, then the defendant shall be civilly liable to the victim of the offense or the victim's estate for treble damages, plus reasonable attorney fees and court costs. Any interested person or entity, as defined in KRS 387.510, shall have standing to bring a civil action on the victim's behalf to enforce this section. The sentencing judge shall inform the defendant of the provisions of this subsection at sentencing. Effective: June 8, 2011 History: Amended 2011 Ky. Acts ch. 43, sec. 1, effective June 8, 2011. -- Amended 2005 Ky. Acts ch. 132, sec. 8, effective June 20, 2005. -- Amended 1998 Ky. Acts ch. 249, sec. 1, effective July 15, 1998; and ch. 370, sec. 5, effective July 15, 1998. -- Amended 1986 Ky. Acts ch. 56, sec. 2, effective July 15, 1986. -- Created 1976 Ky. Acts ch. 157, sec. 9.
Notes of Decisions
Vanhook v. Somerset Health Facilities, LP, 67 F. Supp. 3d 810 (E.D. Ky. 2014).
· cites it 13× “KRS § 209.990(1). The Act also sets forth the procedures that the Cabinet for Health and Human Services and state prosecutors must follow in investigating and processing a report of abuse.”
Caretenders, Inc. v. Commonwealth, 821 S.W.2d 83 (Ky. 1991).
· cites it 9× “-990(2) because they knowingly and willfully neglected, from January 1, 1988, to February 9, 1988, an adult patient, Odell Lewis, causing her serious mental and/or physical injury or permanent disability.”
Bartley v. Commonwealth, 400 S.W.3d 714 (Ky. 2013).
· cites it 4× “020 and outlawed by KRS 209.990. We begin with Bartley’s contention that the assault statutes do not apply to failures to act, but outlaw only “overt acts.”
Roach v. Commonwealth, 313 S.W.3d 101 (Ky. 2010).
· cites it 6× “020(4) defines an adult subject to the protection offered by this chapter (including provisions criminalizing abuse, neglect, and exploitation of such adults such as KRS 209.990) as "a person eighteen (18) years of age or older who, because of mental or physical dysfunctioning,…”
Staples v. Commonwealth, 454 S.W.3d 803 (Ky. 2014).
“1996) (upholding manslaughter conviction for breach of a brother's duty to care for his disabled sister, a duty arising in part at least from KRS 209.990 which criminalizes the abuse and neglect of dependent adults).”
Morris v. Commonwealth, 783 S.W.2d 889 (Ky. 1990).
· cites it 4× “This appeal is from a judgment of the Bell Circuit Court sentencing the appellant to five years’ imprisonment upon a jury verdict finding him guilty of abuse of an adult in violation of KRS 209.990. The appellant first argues that the indictment against him should have been…”
Louisville Metro Dep't of Corr. v. King, 258 S.W.3d 419 (Ky. Ct. App. 2007).
“King was indicted on one count of knowing exploitation of an adult, by complicity, a class C felony (KRS 209.990); and one count of theft by unlawful taking over $300, by complicity, a class D felony (KRS 514.”
Commonwealth v. Mitchell, 516 S.W.3d 803 (Ky. 2017).
“KRS 209.990(2)-(4) outlaws, respectively, the knowing, wanton, and reckless neglect of a disabled adult.”
Joshua L. Ward v. Commonwealth of Kentucky (Ky. Ct. App. 2026).
· cites it 2× “In Roach, the defendant was similarly charged with exploitation of an adult under -6- KRS 209.990(5) and similarly argued insufficient evidence that the adult therein was unable to handle her own affairs.”
— Ky. Rev. Stat. § 209.990(1) — 1 case
Vanhook v. Somerset Health Facilities, LP, 67 F. Supp. 3d 810 (E.D. Ky. 2014).
“KRS § 209.990(1). The Act also sets forth the procedures that the Cabinet for Health and Human Services and state prosecutors must follow in investigating and processing a report of abuse.”
— Ky. Rev. Stat. § 209.990(2) — 7 cases
Vanhook v. Somerset Health Facilities, LP, 67 F. Supp. 3d 810 (E.D. Ky. 2014).
“KRS § 209.990(1). The Act also sets forth the procedures that the Cabinet for Health and Human Services and state prosecutors must follow in investigating and processing a report of abuse.”
Caretenders, Inc. v. Commonwealth, 821 S.W.2d 83 (Ky. 1991).
“-990(2) because they knowingly and willfully neglected, from January 1, 1988, to February 9, 1988, an adult patient, Odell Lewis, causing her serious mental and/or physical injury or permanent disability.”
Bartley v. Commonwealth, 400 S.W.3d 714 (Ky. 2013).
“020 and outlawed by KRS 209.990. We begin with Bartley’s contention that the assault statutes do not apply to failures to act, but outlaw only “overt acts.”
Roach v. Commonwealth, 313 S.W.3d 101 (Ky. 2010).
“020(4) defines an adult subject to the protection offered by this chapter (including provisions criminalizing abuse, neglect, and exploitation of such adults such as KRS 209.990) as "a person eighteen (18) years of age or older who, because of mental or physical dysfunctioning,…”
Morris v. Commonwealth, 783 S.W.2d 889 (Ky. 1990).
“This appeal is from a judgment of the Bell Circuit Court sentencing the appellant to five years’ imprisonment upon a jury verdict finding him guilty of abuse of an adult in violation of KRS 209.990. The appellant first argues that the indictment against him should have been…”
— Ky. Rev. Stat. § 209.990(5) — 3 cases
Roach v. Commonwealth, 313 S.W.3d 101 (Ky. 2010).
“020(4) defines an adult subject to the protection offered by this chapter (including provisions criminalizing abuse, neglect, and exploitation of such adults such as KRS 209.990) as "a person eighteen (18) years of age or older who, because of mental or physical dysfunctioning,…”
Joshua L. Ward v. Commonwealth of Kentucky (Ky. Ct. App. 2026).
“In Roach, the defendant was similarly charged with exploitation of an adult under -6- KRS 209.990(5) and similarly argued insufficient evidence that the adult therein was unable to handle her own affairs.”
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