Harassment Definition in Kentucky: Penalties and Protective Orders

Harassment laws in Kentucky are set out in KRS 525.070, which makes it a crime to intentionally strike, follow, threaten, or repeatedly alarm another person. Physical-contact harassment is a Class B misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a $250 fine. Other forms, including following someone or making offensive gestures in public, are classified as violations that carry a fine but no jail time. Separate statutes cover harassing phone calls and messages, and repeated conduct can be charged as stalking, which reaches felony level in some circumstances.

What Counts as Harassment Under Kentucky Law

KRS 525.070 defines harassment as intentional conduct aimed at harassing, annoying, or alarming another person. The statute lists five categories of behavior that qualify:

Striking, shoving, kicking, or similar unwanted physical contact.
Attempting or threatening to strike, shove, or otherwise touch someone.
Making offensive gestures or directing abusive language at a person in a public place.
Following a person in or about a public place.
Engaging in a course of conduct that seriously annoys or alarms the person and serves no legitimate purpose.¹

The intent element does most of the work in these cases. An accidental bump or an ordinary argument that gets loud is not harassment. Prosecutors have to show a conscious purpose to harass, annoy, or alarm, and courts look at the full context, including prior interactions between the parties, when deciding whether that purpose was present.

Note the words the statute uses: “harass, annoy, or alarm.” Intimidation is not part of the intent element here. That word appears in the separate statute on harassing communications, and the difference matters at trial because it changes what the state must prove.

Penalties for Harassment in Kentucky

KRS 525.070 splits the offense into two tiers, and the penalty depends on which type of conduct is charged.

Harassment involving physical contact (striking, shoving, kicking, or similar touching) is a Class B misdemeanor. That means up to 90 days in jail and a fine of up to $250.¹²³

All other forms of harassment under the statute, including following someone, offensive gestures or language in public, and a course of alarming conduct, are classified as violations rather than misdemeanors. Violations carry a fine but no jail time.

Judges have room in sentencing. Probation, community service, or mandatory counseling can substitute for jail. In cases involving electronic contact, courts often add conditions prohibiting the defendant from reaching the victim through any digital channel. Breaking those conditions can bring contempt findings or new charges.

Harassing Communications

Unwanted phone calls, texts, emails, and other electronic contact fall under a separate statute, KRS 525.080. The offense is committed when someone communicates with another person in a way that causes annoyance or alarm and serves no legitimate purpose, provided they acted with intent to intimidate, harass, annoy, or alarm the recipient.⁴

The statute reaches phone calls made with no legitimate purpose even when no conversation happens. Repeated hang-ups and silent calls both qualify. For students in a local school district, the law adds a provision covering communications directed at another student that a reasonable person would recognize as causing fear, intimidation, humiliation, or embarrassment.⁴

The victim does not have to respond or acknowledge the messages. What matters is the sender’s intent and whether the communication served any legitimate purpose. A single angry text after an argument may not qualify. Dozens of messages over several days with no purpose except to upset the recipient almost certainly will.

Harassing communications is a Class B misdemeanor. Penalties are the same as physical-contact harassment: up to 90 days in jail and a fine of up to $250.⁴²

When Harassment Becomes Stalking

Prosecutors move from harassment to stalking when the behavior involves a sustained pattern rather than an isolated act. Under KRS 508.130, stalking is an intentional course of conduct directed at a specific person that seriously alarms, annoys, intimidates, or harasses them, serves no legitimate purpose, and would cause a reasonable person substantial mental distress.⁵

The critical piece is the “course of conduct” requirement: at least two acts showing continuity of purpose. Surveillance, following, messaging, or using an electronic device to track or contact the victim can all count. One incident, however alarming, will not support a stalking charge.⁵

Kentucky sets two degrees based on severity:

Stalking in the second degree (KRS 508.150) applies when the stalking includes an explicit or implicit threat intended to place the victim in reasonable fear of sexual contact, physical injury, or death. It is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to 12 months in jail and a fine of up to $500.⁶
Stalking in the first degree (KRS 508.140) is second-degree stalking plus an aggravating factor: an existing protective order against the defendant for the same victim, a pending criminal complaint, a prior felony or Class A misdemeanor conviction involving the same victim within the past five years, or the defendant was carrying a deadly weapon. It is a Class D felony.⁷

The structure has a practical effect: continuing to harass someone after a protective order is already in place moves the case from misdemeanor territory into felony territory.

Protective Orders

Kentucky offers two main civil orders victims can seek, and the right one depends on the relationship between the parties.

Interpersonal Protective Orders

An interpersonal protective order (IPO) is available to victims of dating violence, stalking, or sexual assault. It is not a general remedy for harassment between acquaintances, neighbors, or co-workers unless the behavior amounts to stalking or one of the other qualifying categories.⁸ An adult may file on behalf of a minor who qualifies.

If a court finds by a preponderance of the evidence that stalking, dating violence, or sexual assault occurred and may occur again, it can issue an IPO for up to three years. The order can be reissued for additional three-year periods when it expires.⁹

Domestic Violence Orders

A domestic violence order (DVO) covers harassment or abuse involving family members, household members, or people in a current or former intimate relationship. Under KRS 403.740, a court can prohibit the abuser from contacting the victim, order them to stay a specified distance away (up to 500 feet), keep them away from the victim’s home, school, or workplace, and restrict the disposition of shared property. The court can also grant temporary custody of children and order counseling.¹⁰

Violating a Protective Order

Violating either an IPO or a DVO is a Class A misdemeanor, carrying up to 12 months in jail and a fine of up to $500.¹¹ For DVO violations, the penalty rises to a Class D felony when the person has two or more prior protective-order violations within the past five years and the latest violation involves the use or threat of physical force. The prior violations do not need to involve the same victim.¹²

How Long You Have to Bring a Case

Kentucky requires prosecution for misdemeanors and violations to begin within one year of the offense.¹³ Reporting harassment promptly matters. Once the year passes, prosecutors cannot bring charges no matter how solid the evidence is.

One boundary worth noting: Kentucky’s criminal harassment statutes are separate from federal workplace-harassment law. Title VII creates civil liability for employers when harassment based on a protected characteristic becomes severe or pervasive, and complaints go to the EEOC rather than a prosecutor. If your situation is about work, that is a different track with its own deadlines.

1
Justia. Kentucky Code 525.070 – Harassment
2
Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Code 532.090 – Sentence of Imprisonment for Misdemeanor
3
Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Code 534.040 – Fines for Misdemeanors and Violations
4
Justia. Kentucky Code 525.080 – Harassing Communications
5
Justia. Kentucky Code 508.130 – Definitions for KRS 508.130 to 508.150
6
Justia. Kentucky Code 508.150 – Stalking in the Second Degree
7
Justia. Kentucky Code 508.140 – Stalking in the First Degree
8
Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Code 456.030 – Petition for Interpersonal Protective Order
9
Justia. Kentucky Code 456.060 – Ruling on Petition for Interpersonal Protective Order
10
Justia. Kentucky Code 403.740 – Domestic Violence Order
11
Justia. Kentucky Code 456.180 – Violation of Order of Protection
12
Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Code 403.763 – Violation of Order of Protection
13
Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Code 500.050 – Time Limitations