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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 an enhanced[a] 6
sentence of imprisonment as authorized by subsection (5) or (6) of this 7
section. 8
(b) When a defendant is charged with being a persistent felony offender, the 9
determination of whether or not he or she is such an offender and the 10
punishment to be imposed pursuant to subsection (5) or (6) of this section 11
shall be determined in a separate proceeding from that proceeding which 12
resulted in his or her last conviction. 13
(c) The[Such] proceeding shall be conducted before the court sitting with the jury 14
that found the defendant guilty of his or her most recent offense unless the 15
court for good cause discharges that jury and impanels a new jury for that 16
purpose. 17
(2) (a) A persistent felony offender in the second degree is a person who: 18
1. Is more than twenty-one (21) years of age; and 19
2. a. [ who ]Stands convicted of a felony after having been convicted of 20
one (1) previous felony; and 21
b. The previous felony conviction is within the same chapter of the 22
Kentucky Revised Statutes as the present offense. 23
(b) As used in this provision, a previous felony conviction is a conviction of a 24
felony in this state or conviction of a crime in any other jurisdiction provided: 25
1.[(a)] That a sentence to a term of imprisonment of one (1) year or more 26
or a sentence to death was imposed[ therefor];[ and] 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 337
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2.[(b)] That the offender was over the age of eighteen (18) years at the 1
time the offense was committed; and 2
3.[(c)] That the offender: 3
a.[1.] Completed service of the sentence imposed on the previous felony 4
conviction within five (5) years prior to the date of commission of 5
the felony for which he or she now stands convicted;[ or] 6
b.[2.] Was on probation, parole, postincarceration supervision, 7
conditional discharge, conditional release, furlough, appeal bond, 8
or any other form of legal release from any of the previous felony 9
convictions at the time of commission of the felony for which he 10
or she now stands convicted;[ or] 11
c.[3.] Was discharged from probation, parole, postincarceration 12
supervision, conditional discharge, conditional release, or any 13
other form of legal release on any of the previous felony 14
convictions within five (5) years prior to the date of commission of 15
the felony for which he or she now stands convicted;[ or] 16
d.[4.] Was in custody from the previous felony conviction at the time of 17
commission of the felony for which he or she now stands 18
convicted; or 19
e.[5.] Had escaped from custody while serving any of the previous 20
felony convictions at the time of commission of the felony for 21
which he or she now stands convicted. 22
(3) (a) A persistent felony offender in the first degree is a person who: 23
1. Is more than twenty-one (21) years of age; and 24
2. a. Who stands convicted of a felony after having been convicted of 25
two (2) or more felonies, or one (1) or more felony sex crimes 26
against a minor as defined in KRS 17.500, and now stands 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 337
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convicted of any one (1) or more felonies; and 1
b. The previous felony conviction or convictions are within the 2
same chapter of the Kentucky Revised Statutes as the present 3
offense. 4
(b) As used in this provision, a previous felony conviction is a conviction of a 5
felony in this state or conviction of a crime in any other jurisdiction provided: 6
1.[(a)] That a sentence to a term of imprisonment of one (1) year or more 7
or a sentence to death was imposed[ therefor];[ and] 8
2.[(b)] That the offender was over the age of eighteen (18) years at the 9
time the offense was committed; and 10
3.[(c)] That the offender: 11
a.[1.] Completed service of the sentence imposed on any of the previous 12
felony convictions within five (5) years prior to the date of the 13
commission of the felony for which he or she now stands 14
convicted;[ or] 15
b.[2.] Was on probation, parole, postincarceration supervision, 16
conditional discharge, conditional release, furlough, appeal bond, 17
or any other form of legal release from any of the previous felony 18
convictions at the time of commission of the felony for which he 19
or she now stands convicted;[ or] 20
c.[3.] Was discharged from probation, parole, postincarceration 21
supervision, conditional discharge, conditional release, or any 22
other form of legal release on any of the previous felony 23
convictions within five (5) years prior to the date of commission of 24
the felony for which he or she now stands convicted; [or] 25
d.[4.] Was in custody from the previous felony conviction at the time of 26
commission of the felony for which he or she now stands 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 337
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convicted; or 1
e.[5.] Had escaped from custody while serving any of the previous 2
felony convictions at the time of commission of the felony for 3
which he or she now stands convicted. 4
(4) For the purpose of determining whether a person has two (2) or more previous 5
felony convictions, two (2) or more convictions of crime for which that person 6
served concurrent or uninterrupted consecutive terms of imprisonment shall be 7
deemed to be only one (1) conviction, unless one (1) of the convictions was for an 8
offense committed while that person was imprisoned. 9
(5) (a) A person who is found to be a persistent felony offender in the second degree 10
shall be sentenced to an indeterminate term of imprisonment pursuant to the 11
sentencing provisions of KRS 532.060(2) for the next highest degree than the 12
offense for which convicted. 13
(b) A person who is found to be a persistent felony offender in the second degree 14
shall not be eligible for probation, shock probation, or conditional discharge, 15
unless all offenses for which the person stands convicted are Class D felony 16
offenses which do not involve a violent act against a person, in which case 17
probation, shock probation, or conditional discharge may be granted. 18
(c) A violent offender who is found to be a persistent felony offender in the 19
second degree shall not be eligible for parole except as provided in KRS 20
439.3401. 21
(6) A person who is found to be a persistent felony offender in the first degree shall be 22
sentenced to imprisonment as follows: 23
(a) If the offense for which he or she presently stands convicted is a Class A or 24
Class B felony, or if the person was previously convicted of one (1) or more 25
sex crimes committed against a minor as defined in KRS 17.500 and presently 26
stands convicted of a subsequent sex crime, a persistent felony offender in the 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 337
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first degree shall be sentenced to an indeterminate term of imprisonment, the 1
maximum of which shall not be less than twenty (20) years nor more than 2
fifty (50) years, or life imprisonment, or life imprisonment without parole for 3
twenty-five (25) years for a sex crime committed against a minor; 4
(b) If the offense for which he or she presently stands convicted is a Class C or 5
Class D felony, a persistent felony offender in the first degree shall be 6
sentenced to an indeterminate term of imprisonment, the maximum of which 7
shall not be less than ten (10) years nor more than twenty (20) years. 8
(7) (a) A person who is found to be a persistent felony offender in the first degree 9
shall not be eligible for probation, shock probation, or conditional discharge, 10
unless all offenses for which the person stands convicted are Class D felony 11
offenses which do not involve a violent act against a person or a sex crime as 12
that term is defined in KRS 17.500, in which case, probation, shock probation, 13
or conditional discharge may be granted. 14
(b) If the offense the person presently stands convicted of is a Class A, B, or C 15
felony, the person shall not be eligible for parole until the person has served a 16
minimum term of incarceration of not less than ten (10) years, unless another 17
sentencing scheme applies. 18
(c) A violent offender who is found to be a persistent felony offender in the first 19
degree shall not be eligible for parole except as provided in KRS 439.3401. 20
(8) A conviction, plea of guilty, or Alford plea under KRS 218A.1415 shall not trigger 21
the application of this section, regardless of the number or type of prior felony 22
convictions that may have been entered against the defendant. A conviction, plea of 23
guilty, or Alford plea under KRS 218A.1415 may be used as a prior felony offense 24
allowing this section to be applied if he or she is subsequently convicted of a 25
different felony offense under KRS Chapter 218A. 26
(9) The provisions of this section shall be retroactive[The provisions of this section 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 337
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amended by 1994 Ky. Acts ch. 396, sec. 11, shall be retroactive]. 1
(10) (a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this subsection, this section shall not 2
apply to a person convicted of a criminal offense if the penalty for that offense 3
was increased from a misdemeanor to a felony, or from a lower felony 4
classification to a higher felony classification, because the conviction 5
constituted a second or subsequent violation of that offense. 6
(b) This subsection shall not prohibit the application of this section to a person 7
convicted of: 8
1. A felony offense arising out of KRS 189A.010, 189A.090, 506.140, 9
508.032, 508.140, or 510.015; or 10
2. Any other felony offense if the penalty was not enhanced to a higher 11
level because the Commonwealth elected to prosecute the person as a 12
first-time violator of that offense. 13