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AN ACT relating to persistent felony offenders. 1
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 2
ď˘Section 1. KRS 532.080 is amended to read as follows: 3
(1) (a) When a defendant is found to be a persistent felony offender, the jury, in lieu 4
of the sentence of imprisonment assessed under KRS 532.060 for the crime of 5
which the[such] person presently stands convicted, shall fix a sentence of 6
imprisonment as authorized by subsection (5) or (6) of this section. 7
(b) When a defendant is charged with being a persistent felony offender, the 8
determination of whether or not he or she is such an offender and the 9
punishment to be imposed pursuant to subsection (5) or (6) of this section 10
shall be determined in a separate proceeding from that proceeding which 11
resulted in his last conviction. 12
(c) The[Such] proceeding shall be conducted before the court sitting with the jury 13
that found the defendant guilty of his or her most recent offense unless the 14
court for good cause discharges that jury and impanels a new jury for that 15
purpose. 16
(2) A persistent felony offender in the second degree is a person who is more than 17
twenty-one (21) years of age and who stands convicted of a felony after having been 18
convicted of one (1) previous felony. As used in this provision, a previous felony 19
conviction is a conviction of a felony in this state or conviction of a crime in any 20
other jurisdiction provided: 21
(a) That a sentence to a term of imprisonment of one (1) year or more or a 22
sentence to death was imposed[ therefor];[ and] 23
(b) That the offender was over the age of eighteen (18) years at the time the 24
offense was committed; and 25
(c) That the offender: 26
1. Completed service of the sentence imposed on the previous felony 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 22 RS BR 1141
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conviction within five (5) years prior to the date of commission of the 1
felony for which he or she now stands convicted;[ or] 2
2. Was on probation, parole, postincarceration supervision, conditional 3
discharge, conditional release, furlough, appeal bond, or any other form 4
of legal release from any of the previous felony convictions at the time 5
of commission of the felony for which he or she now stands convicted;[ 6
or] 7
3. Was discharged from probation, parole, postincarceration supervision, 8
conditional discharge, conditional release, or any other form of legal 9
release on any of the previous felony convictions within five (5) years 10
prior to the date of commission of the felony for which he or she now 11
stands convicted;[ or] 12
4. Was in custody from the previous felony conviction at the time of 13
commission of the felony for which he or she now stands convicted; or 14
5. Had escaped from custody while serving any of the previous felony 15
convictions at the time of commission of the felony for which he or she 16
now stands convicted. 17
(3) A persistent felony offender in the first degree is a person who is more than twenty-18
one (21) years of age and who stands convicted of a felony after having been 19
convicted of two (2) or more felonies, or one (1) or more felony sex crimes against 20
a minor as defined in KRS 17.500, and now stands convicted of any one (1) or more 21
felonies. As used in this provision, a previous felony conviction is a conviction of a 22
felony in this state or conviction of a crime in any other jurisdiction provided: 23
(a) That a sentence to a term of imprisonment of one (1) year or more or a 24
sentence to death was imposed therefor;[ and] 25
(b) That the offender was over the age of eighteen (18) years at the time the 26
offense was committed; and 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 22 RS BR 1141
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(c) That the offender: 1
1. Completed service of the sentence imposed on any of the previous 2
felony convictions within five (5) years prior to the date of the 3
commission of the felony for which he or she now stands convicted;[ or] 4
2. Was on probation, parole, postincarceration supervision, conditional 5
discharge, conditional release, furlough, appeal bond, or any other form 6
of legal release from any of the previous felony convictions at the time 7
of commission of the felony for which he or she now stands convicted;[ 8
or] 9
3. Was discharged from probation, parole, postincarceration supervision, 10
conditional discharge, conditional release, or any other form of legal 11
release on any of the previous felony convictions within five (5) years 12
prior to the date of commission of the felony for which he or she now 13
stands convicted;[ or] 14
4. Was in custody from the previous felony conviction at the time of 15
commission of the felony for which he or she now stands convicted; or 16
5. Had escaped from custody while serving any of the previous felony 17
convictions at the time of commission of the felony for which he or she 18
now stands convicted. 19
(4) For the purpose of determining whether a person has two (2) or more previous 20
felony convictions, two (2) or more convictions of crime for which that person 21
served concurrent or uninterrupted consecutive terms of imprisonment shall be 22
deemed to be only one (1) conviction, unless one (1) of the convictions was for an 23
offense committed while that person was imprisoned. 24
(5) (a) A person who is found to be a persistent felony offender in the second degree 25
shall be sentenced to an indeterminate term of imprisonment pursuant to the 26
sentencing provisions of KRS 532.060(2) for the next highest degree than the 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 22 RS BR 1141
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offense for which convicted. 1
(b) A person who is found to be a persistent felony offender in the second degree 2
shall not be eligible for probation, shock probation, or conditional discharge, 3
unless all offenses for which the person stands convicted are Class D felony 4
offenses which do not involve a violent act against a person, in which case 5
probation, shock probation, or conditional discharge may be granted. 6
(c) A violent offender who is found to be a persistent felony offender in the 7
second degree shall not be eligible for parole except as provided in KRS 8
439.3401. 9
(6) A person who is found to be a persistent felony offender in the first degree shall be 10
sentenced to imprisonment as follows: 11
(a) If the offense for which he or she presently stands convicted is a Class A or 12
Class B felony, or if the person was previously convicted of one (1) or more 13
sex crimes committed against a minor as defined in KRS 17.500 and presently 14
stands convicted of a subsequent sex crime, a persistent felony offender in the 15
first degree shall be sentenced to an indeterminate term of imprisonment, the 16
maximum of which shall not be less than twenty (20) years nor more than fifty 17
(50) years, or life imprisonment, or life imprisonment without parole for 18
twenty-five (25) years for a sex crime committed against a minor; 19
(b) If the offense for which he or she presently stands convicted is a Class C or 20
Class D felony, a persistent felony offender in the first degree shall be 21
sentenced to an indeterminate term of imprisonment, the maximum of which 22
shall not be less than ten (10) years nor more than twenty (20) years. 23
(7) (a) A person who is found to be a persistent felony offender in the first degree 24
shall not be eligible for probation, shock probation, or conditional discharge, 25
unless all offenses for which the person stands convicted are Class D felony 26
offenses which do not involve a violent act against a person or a sex crime as 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 22 RS BR 1141
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that term is defined in KRS 17.500, in which case, probation, shock probation, 1
or conditional discharge may be granted. 2
(b) If the offense the person presently stands convicted of is a Class A, B, or C 3
felony, the person shall not be eligible for parole until the person has served a 4
minimum term of incarceration of not less than ten (10) years, unless another 5
sentencing scheme applies. 6
(c) A violent offender who is found to be a persistent felony offender in the first 7
degree shall not be eligible for parole except as provided in KRS 439.3401. 8
(8) A conviction, plea of guilty, or Alford plea under KRS 218A.1415 shall not trigger 9
the application of this section, regardless of the number or type of prior felony 10
convictions that may have been entered against the defendant. A conviction, plea of 11
guilty, or Alford plea under KRS 218A.1415 may be used as a prior felony offense 12
allowing this section to be applied if he or she is subsequently convicted of a 13
different felony offense. 14
(9) The provisions of this section amended by 1994 Ky. Acts ch. 396, sec. 11, shall be 15
retroactive. 16
(10) (a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this subsection, this section shall not 17
apply to a person convicted of a criminal offense if the penalty for that offense 18
was increased from a misdemeanor to a felony, or from a lower felony 19
classification to a higher felony classification, because the conviction 20
constituted a second or subsequent violation of that offense. 21
(b) This subsection shall not prohibit the application of this section to a person 22
convicted of: 23
1. A felony offense arising out of KRS 189A.010, 189A.090, 506.140, 24
508.032, 508.140, or 510.015; or 25
2. Any other felony offense if the penalty was not enhanced to a higher 26
level because the Commonwealth elected to prosecute the person as a 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 22 RS BR 1141
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first-time violator of that offense. 1