Kentucky Revised Statutes

Ky. Rev. Stat. § 81.005 (2026)

Classification of cities

✓ current as of May 2026

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(1) Cities shall be organized into two (2) classes based on the form of their respective government. The two (2) classes of cities shall be: (a) First class, which shall include cities organized and operating under the mayor-alderman plan of government in accordance with KRS Chapter 83; and (b) Home rule class, which shall include any city government organized and operating under the following forms of government: 1. City manager plan of government in accordance with KRS 83A.150; 2. Mayor-council plan of government in accordance with KRS 83A.130; or 3. Commission plan of government in accordance with KRS 83A.140. (2) Cities incorporated before January 1, 2015, shall be classified in accordance with the classes set out in subsection (1) of this section on January 1, 2015. (3) When a city is incorporated on or after January 1, 2015, that city's initial classification shall be the form of government designated by the court upon incorporation in accordance with KRS 81.060. (4) A city shall be deemed to be reclassified to the class designated under subsection (2) of this section upon the effective date of a change in the form of government pursuant to KRS 83A.160. (5) When a city changes class, it shall thereafter be governed by the laws relating to the class to which it is assigned, but the change from one (1) class to another shall not affect any ordinance previously enacted by the city, except that any ordinance in conflict with the laws relating to cities of the class to which the city is assigned shall be repealed to the extent the ordinance so conflicts. (6) A city that is reclassified shall provide the Secretary of State written notice of the reclassification, including the effective date of the reclassification no later than thirty (30) days after the effective date of the reclassification pursuant to KRS 83A.160. (7) In order to update the record of incorporation of cities in the Secretary of State's office, every city operating as a public corporation and a unit of local government shall file with the Secretary of State before January 1, 2015, a document listing the name of the city, the year of its incorporation, form of government, and the classification assigned the city by this section. If a city fails to comply with this subsection, it shall be barred from receiving state moneys until such time as the city complies. Effective: June 27, 2019 History: Amended 2019 Ky. Acts ch. 44, sec. 10, effective June 27, 2019. -- Created 2014 Ky. Acts ch. 92, sec. 1, effective January 1, 2015.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 6 cases (3 in the last 5 years), 2000–2025 · leading case: McCollum v. City of Berea, 53 S.W.3d 106 (Ky. Ct. App. 2000).

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McCollum v. City of Berea, 53 S.W.3d 106 (Ky. Ct. App. 2000). · cites it 4× “Section 81.005 defines a mobile home as the following: “A dwelling unit, factory built and factory assembled, designed for conveyance after fabrication, on streets and highways on its own wheels, or on flatbed, or other trailers, and arriving at the site where it is to be…”

Scalise v. Sewell-Scheuermann, 566 S.W.3d 539 (Mo. Ct. App. 2018). “KRS 81.005. Audubon Park is now a city of the home rule class.”

Russell Coleman, in His Off. Capacity as Attorney Gen. of the Commonwealth of Kentucky v. Jefferson Cnty. Bd. of Educ. (Ky. 2025). · cites it 7× “101, KRS 81.005, and KRS 83A.160(6) to assert “[n]othing in Kentucky law prevents the largest city by population in any other Kentucky county with more than 250,000 residents from choosing to become a city of the first class.”

louisville/jefferson Cnty. Metro Gov't Waste Mgmt. Dist. v. Jefferson Cnty. League of Cities, Inc. (Ky. 2021). · cites it 2× “As pertains to Jefferson County, and as noted in the record, at the time the Act passed, it had 83 home rule cities.”

Michael Scalise v. Suzette Sewell-Scheuermann (Ky. 2018). “KRS 81.005. Audubon Park is now a city of the home rule class.”

Commonwealth of Kentucky, Ex Rel. Attorney Gen. Russell Coleman v. Perry Cnty. Fiscal Court, as a Political Subdivision & on Behalf of the Residents of Perry Cnty., Kentucky (Ky. Ct. App. 2025). “KRS 81.005. Cities were now to be classified as either “first class cities” or “home rule cities.”

— Ky. Rev. Stat. § 81.005(1) — 1 case

louisville/jefferson Cnty. Metro Gov't Waste Mgmt. Dist. v. Jefferson Cnty. League of Cities, Inc. (Ky. 2021). “As pertains to Jefferson County, and as noted in the record, at the time the Act passed, it had 83 home rule cities.”

— Ky. Rev. Stat. § 81.005(1)(a) — 1 case

Russell Coleman, in His Off. Capacity as Attorney Gen. of the Commonwealth of Kentucky v. Jefferson Cnty. Bd. of Educ. (Ky. 2025). “101, KRS 81.005, and KRS 83A.160(6) to assert “[n]othing in Kentucky law prevents the largest city by population in any other Kentucky county with more than 250,000 residents from choosing to become a city of the first class.”

— Ky. Rev. Stat. § 81.005(1)(b) — 2 cases

— Ky. Rev. Stat. § 81.005(5) — 1 case

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