Kentucky Criminal Law and Procedure
What this domain tests
This domain checks whether you can name the right offense, the right arrest authority, and the right procedural path using the Kentucky Revised Statutes (KRS) and the Rules of Criminal Procedure (RCr) - not television habit. Expect element-based charging questions and arrest-authority scenarios.
Core rules
- Offense classes. Felonies run Class A through D (KRS 532.060); misdemeanors are Class A and B, plus violations. The class fixes the penalty range, the sentencing court, and whether a grand jury indictment is required.
- Mental states (KRS 501.020): intentionally, knowingly, wantonly, recklessly. The defining statute picks the mental state; you do not import one that is not there.
- Warrantless arrest (KRS 431.005): a felony on probable cause; any offense committed in the officer's presence; plus enumerated statutory exceptions such as domestic violence and protective-order violations.
- Citation release (KRS 431.015): for misdemeanors and violations a citation is the default unless a statutory exception applies.
- Procedure: felonies by indictment unless waived, misdemeanors by information; arraignment triggers speedy-trial and counsel issues.
Worked example
An officer watches a man conceal a sixty-dollar jacket and walk past the registers. Theft under the statutory threshold is a Class A misdemeanor (KRS 514.030). Because the offense occurred in the officer's presence, KRS 431.005 permits a warrantless arrest - but KRS 431.015 also pushes toward a citation, so the officer must point to a recognized exception before choosing jail. Upgrading the charge to a felony based on attitude would be error: value, not the officer's reaction, sets the class.
Traps that cost marks
- Charging by narrative feel instead of proving each element, including the mental state.
- Mixing in-presence misdemeanor authority with probable-cause felony authority.
- Treating officer preference, rather than the citation statute, as the default for misdemeanors.
- Forgetting that the classification, not the label in the report, controls the penalty.