(1) Any person, firm, or corporation who performs labor or furnishes materials or supplies for the construction, maintenance, or improvement of any canal, railroad, bridge, public highway, or other public improvement in this state by contract, express or implied, with the owner thereof or by subcontract thereunder shall have a lien thereon, and upon all the property and the franchises of the owner, except property owned by the state, a subdivision or agency thereof, or by any city, county, urban-county, or charter county government. If the property improved is owned by the state or by any subdivision or agency thereof, or by any city, county, urban- county, or charter county government, the person furnishing the labor, materials, or supplies shall have a lien on the funds due the contractor from the owner of the property improved. Except as provided in KRS § 376.195, the lien shall be for the full contract price of the labor, materials, and supplies furnished, and shall be superior to all other liens thereafter created.
(2) Any person undertaking or expecting to furnish labor, materials, or supplies as provided in this section may acquire the lien herein provided by filing in the clerk’s office of each county in which he has undertaken to furnish labor, materials, or supplies, except as provided in subsection (3), a statement in writing that he has undertaken and expects to furnish labor, materials, or supplies and the price at which they are to be furnished, and the lien for labor, material, or supplies furnished thereafter shall relate back and take effect from the date of the filing of the statement. In all cases of original construction the liens shall be prior to all liens theretofore or thereafter created on the part so constructed and on no other part.

Terms Used In Kentucky Statutes 376.210

  • City: includes town. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
  • Owner: when applied to any animal, means any person having a property interest in such animal. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010
  • State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes territories, outlying possessions, and the District of Columbia. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010

(3) In all cases where the labor, materials, or supplies are furnished for the improvement of any public highway or other public property owned by the state or by any city, county, urban-county, or charter county government, the statement shall be filed in the county clerk’s office of the county in which is located the seat of government of the owner of the property improved, and the lien shall attach only to any unpaid balance due the contractor for the improvement from the time a copy of the statement, attested by the county clerk, is delivered to the owner or the owner’s authorized agent with whom the contract for improving the public highway or other public property was made.
Effective: July 15, 1998
History: Amended 1998 Ky. Acts ch. 397, sec. 3, effective July 15, 1998. — Amended
1966 Ky. Acts ch. 255, sec. 262. — Recodified 1942 Ky. Acts ch. 208, sec. 1, effective October 1, 1942, from Ky. Stat. sec. 2492.