Kentucky Revised Statutes

Ky. Rev. Stat. § 49.060 (2026)

Legislative intent as to sovereign immunity in negligence claims

✓ current as of May 2026

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It is the intention of the General Assembly to provide the means to enable a person negligently injured by the Commonwealth, any of its cabinets, departments, bureaus, or agencies, or any of its officers, agents, or employees while acting within the scope of their employment by the Commonwealth or any of its cabinets, departments, bureaus, or agencies to be able to assert their just claims as herein provided. The Commonwealth thereby waives the sovereign immunity defense only in the limited situations as herein set forth. It is further the intention of the General Assembly to otherwise expressly preserve the sovereign immunity of the Commonwealth, its cabinets, departments, bureaus, and agencies and its officers, agents, and employees while acting in the scope of their employment in all other situations except where sovereign immunity is specifically and expressly waived as set forth by statute. The Board of Claims shall have exclusive jurisdiction to hear claims for damages, except as otherwise specifically set forth by statute, against the Commonwealth, its cabinets, departments, bureaus, or agencies, or any of its officers, agents, or employees while acting within the scope of their employment. Effective: June 29, 2021 History: Amended 2021 Ky. Acts ch. 185, sec. 17, effective June 29, 2021. -- Repealed, reenacted, renumbered, and amended 2017 Ky. Acts ch. 74, sec. 6, effective June 29, 2017. -- Created 1986 Ky. Acts ch. 499, sec. 1, effective July 15, 1986. Formerly codified as KRS 44.072.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 14 cases (12 in the last 5 years), 2019–2026 · leading case: New Albany Main Street Props. v. Watco Co., LLC, 75 F.4th 615 (6th Cir. 2023).

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New Albany Main Street Props. v. Watco Co., LLC, 75 F.4th 615 (6th Cir. 2023). · cites it 2× “Ky. Rev. Stat. § 49.060; id. §§ 49.040, 49.”

Trabue v. Louisville-Jefferson Cnty. Metro Gov't (W.D. Ky. 2024). · cites it 7× “” Ky. Rev. Stat. § 49.060 (emphases added).”

Univ. of Kentucky, A/K/A Uk Healthcare v. Sarah R. Moore (Ky. 2019). · cites it 4× “070(1): “For purposes of KRS 49.060 [which waives the Commonwealth’s sovereign immunity defense for negligence claims arising from its agent acting within the scope of his employment], state institutions of higher education under KRS Chapter 164 are agencies of the state.”

Commonwealth of Kentucky, Dep't of Revenue v. Sarah R. Moore (Ky. 2019). · cites it 4× “070(1): “For purposes of KRS 49.060 [which waives the Commonwealth’s sovereign immunity defense for negligence claims arising from its agent acting within the scope of his employment], state institutions of higher education under KRS Chapter 164 are agencies of the state.”

Letcher Cnty. Bd. of Educ. v. Roger Hall (Ky. 2023). · cites it 2× “KRS 49.060. Allowing negligence claims to proceed in the Board of Claims constitutes an explicit waiver of sovereign immunity.”

Kimberly Bennett v. Kentucky Cmty. & Technical Coll. Sys. (Ky. 2025). · cites it 2× “The Department points out that plaintiffs seek “damages” and that KRS 49.060 directs that “[t]he Board of Claims shall have exclusive jurisdiction to hear claims for damages, except as otherwise specifically set forth by statute, against the Commonwealth.”

ACT, Inc. v. Worldwide Interactive Network (6th Cir. 2022). “28(18); Ky. Rev. Stat. § 49.060; Ariz. Rev. Stat.”

Dumphord v. Gabriel (E.D. Ky. 2021). “§§ 49.060 and 49.070, which provide that persons may bring negligence claims against the state and its agencies before the Kentucky Claims Commission.”

New Albany Main Street Props. v. Watco Companies, LLC (W.D. Ky. 2022). “§ 49.060. Although the statute may reference sovereign immunity, the Kentucky Court of Appeals has recognized that immunity applied to agencies and entities is governmental immunity.”

Harmon v. Goodwin (W.D. Ky. 2025). “” KRS 49.060. This limited waiver of sovereign immunity “provide[s] the means to enable a person negligently injured by the Commonwealth, any of its cabinets, departments, bureaus, or agencies .”

Est. of Jeremiah Blevins, by & Through Jennifer Blevins, as Adm'x v. Brandon Howe (Ky. Ct. App. 2025). “KRS 49.060. This Court in Nash merely held that the Transportation Cabinet, and thus, the Commonwealth itself, had a ministerial duty to maintain the roadways.”

James P. Bowling v. Commonwealth of Kentucky, Transp. Cabinet, Dep't of Highways (Ky. Ct. App. 2025). “The General Assembly made such direction when it enacted KRS 49.060, which provides: The Board of Claims shall have exclusive jurisdiction to hear claims for damages, except as otherwise specifically set forth by statute, against the Commonwealth, its cabinets, departments,…”

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