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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 such person presently stands convicted, may[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 or her last conviction. 12
(c) Such proceeding shall be conducted before the court sitting with the jury that 13
found the defendant guilty of his or her most recent offense unless the court 14
for good cause discharges that jury and impanels a new jury for that purpose. 15
(2) A persistent felony offender in the second degree is a person who: 16
(a) Is more than twenty-one (21) years of age; and 17
(b) 1. [ who ]Stands convicted of a felony after having been convicted of one 18
(1) previous felony; and 19
2. The previous felony is within the same chapter of the Kentucky 20
Revised Statutes. 21
(c) 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
1.[(a)] That a sentence to a term of imprisonment of one (1) year or more 24
or a sentence to death was imposed therefor;[ and] 25
2.[(b)] That the offender was over the age of eighteen (18) years at the 26
time the offense was committed; and 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 22 RS BR 878
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3.[(c)] That the offender: 1
a.[1.] Completed service of the sentence imposed on the previous felony 2
conviction within five (5) years prior to the date of commission of 3
the felony for which he or she now stands convicted; [or] 4
b.[2.] Was on probation, parole, postincarceration supervision, 5
conditional discharge, conditional release, furlough, appeal bond, 6
or any other form of legal release from any of the previous felony 7
convictions at the time of commission of the felony for which he 8
or she now stands convicted;[ or] 9
c.[3.] Was discharged from probation, parole, postincarceration 10
supervision, conditional discharge, conditional release, or any 11
other form of legal release on any of the previous felony 12
convictions within five (5) years prior to the date of commission of 13
the felony for which he or she now stands convicted;[ or] 14
d.[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 16
convicted; or 17
e.[5.] Had escaped from custody while serving any of the previous 18
felony convictions at the time of commission of the felony for 19
which he or she now stands convicted. 20
(3) A persistent felony offender in the first degree is a person who: 21
(a) Is more than twenty-one (21) years of age; and 22
(b) 1. Who stands convicted of a felony after having been convicted of two (2) 23
or more felonies, or one (1) or more felony sex crimes against a minor as 24
defined in KRS 17.500, and now stands convicted of any one (1) or 25
more felonies; and 26
2. The previous felony or felonies are within the same chapter of the 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 22 RS BR 878
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Kentucky Revised Statutes. 1
(c) As used in this provision, a previous felony conviction is a conviction of a 2
felony in this state or conviction of a crime in any other jurisdiction provided: 3
1.[(a)] That a sentence to a term of imprisonment of one (1) year or more 4
or a sentence to death was imposed therefor;[ and] 5
2.[(b)] That the offender was over the age of eighteen (18) years at the 6
time the offense was committed; and 7
3.[(c)] That the offender: 8
a.[1.] Completed service of the sentence imposed on any of the previous 9
felony convictions within five (5) years prior to the date of the 10
commission of the felony for which he or she now stands 11
convicted;[ or] 12
b.[2.] Was on probation, parole, postincarceration supervision, 13
conditional discharge, conditional release, furlough, appeal bond, 14
or any other form of legal release from any of the previous felony 15
convictions at the time of commission of the felony for which he 16
or she now stands convicted;[ or] 17
c.[3.] Was discharged from probation, parole, postincarceration 18
supervision, conditional discharge, conditional release, or any 19
other form of legal release on any of the previous felony 20
convictions within five (5) years prior to the date of commission of 21
the felony for which he or she now stands convicted; [or] 22
d.[4.] Was in custody from the previous felony conviction at the time of 23
commission of the felony for which he or she now stands 24
convicted; or 25
e.[5.] Had escaped from custody while serving any of the previous 26
felony convictions at the time of commission of the felony for 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 22 RS BR 878
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which he or she now stands convicted. 1
(4) For the purpose of determining whether a person has two (2) or more previous 2
felony convictions, two (2) or more convictions of crime for which that person 3
served concurrent or uninterrupted consecutive terms of imprisonment shall be 4
deemed to be only one (1) conviction, unless one (1) of the convictions was for an 5
offense committed while that person was imprisoned. 6
(5) (a) A person who is found to be a persistent felony offender in the second degree 7
shall be sentenced to an indeterminate term of imprisonment pursuant to the 8
sentencing provisions of KRS 532.060(2) for the next highest degree than the 9
offense for which convicted. 10
(b) A person who is found to be a persistent felony offender in the second degree 11
shall not be eligible for probation, shock probation, or conditional discharge, 12
unless all offenses for which the person stands convicted are Class D felony 13
offenses which do not involve a violent act against a person, in which case 14
probation, shock probation, or conditional discharge may be granted. 15
(c) A violent offender who is found to be a persistent felony offender in the 16
second degree shall not be eligible for parole except as provided in KRS 17
439.3401. 18
(6) A person who is found to be a persistent felony offender in the first degree shall be 19
sentenced to imprisonment as follows: 20
(a) If the offense for which he or she presently stands convicted is a Class A or 21
Class B felony, or if the person was previously convicted of one (1) or more 22
sex crimes committed against a minor as defined in KRS 17.500 and presently 23
stands convicted of a subsequent sex crime, a persistent felony offender in the 24
first degree shall be sentenced to an indeterminate term of imprisonment, the 25
maximum of which shall not be less than twenty (20) years nor more than fifty 26
(50) years, or life imprisonment, or life imprisonment without parole for 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 22 RS BR 878
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twenty-five (25) years for a sex crime committed against a minor; 1
(b) If the offense for which he or she presently stands convicted is a Class C or 2
Class D felony, a persistent felony offender in the first degree shall be 3
sentenced to an indeterminate term of imprisonment, the maximum of which 4
shall not be less than ten (10) years nor more than twenty (20) years. 5
(7) (a) A person who is found to be a persistent felony offender in the first degree 6
shall not be eligible for probation, shock probation, or conditional discharge, 7
unless all offenses for which the person stands convicted are Class D felony 8
offenses which do not involve a violent act against a person or a sex crime as 9
that term is defined in KRS 17.500, in which case, probation, shock probation, 10
or conditional discharge may be granted. 11
(b) If the offense the person presently stands convicted of is a Class A, B, or C 12
felony, the person shall not be eligible for parole until the person has served a 13
minimum term of incarceration of not less than ten (10) years, unless another 14
sentencing scheme applies. 15
(c) A violent offender who is found to be a persistent felony offender in the first 16
degree shall not be eligible for parole except as provided in KRS 439.3401. 17
(8) A conviction, plea of guilty, or Alford plea under KRS 218A.1415 shall not trigger 18
the application of this section, regardless of the number or type of prior felony 19
convictions that may have been entered against the defendant. A conviction, plea of 20
guilty, or Alford plea under KRS 218A.1415 may be used as a prior felony offense 21
allowing this section to be applied if he or she is subsequently convicted of a 22
different felony offense. 23
(9) The provisions of this section amended by 1994 Ky. Acts ch. 396, sec. 11, shall be 24
retroactive. 25
(10) (a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this subsection, this section shall not 26
apply to a person convicted of a criminal offense if the penalty for that offense 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 22 RS BR 878
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was increased from a misdemeanor to a felony, or from a lower felony 1
classification to a higher felony classification, because the conviction 2
constituted a second or subsequent violation of that offense. 3
(b) This subsection shall not prohibit the application of this section to a person 4
convicted of: 5
1. A felony offense arising out of KRS 189A.010, 189A.090, 506.140, 6
508.032, 508.140, or 510.015; or 7
2. Any other felony offense if the penalty was not enhanced to a higher 8
level because the Commonwealth elected to prosecute the person as a 9
first-time violator of that offense. 10