(1) As used in this section, “person” includes an individual, his executor, administrator, or other personal representative, or a corporation, partnership, association, or any other legal or commercial entity, who is a nonresident of this Commonwealth.
(2) (a) A court may exercise personal jurisdiction over a person who acts directly or by an agent, as to a claim arising from the person’s:

Terms Used In Kentucky Statutes 454.210

  • Action: includes all proceedings in any court of this state. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010
  • Certified mail: means any method of governmental, commercial, or electronic delivery that allows a document or package to have proof of:
    (a) Sending the document or package. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010
  • Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
  • Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
  • Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
  • Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
  • Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
  • State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes territories, outlying possessions, and the District of Columbia. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010
  • Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
  • Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
  • Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.

1. Transacting any business in this Commonwealth;
2. Contracting to supply services or goods in this Commonwealth;
3. Causing tortious injury by an act or omission in this Commonwealth;
4. Causing tortious injury in this Commonwealth by an act or omission outside this Commonwealth if he regularly does or solicits business, or engages in any other persistent course of conduct, or derives substantial revenue from goods used or consumed or services rendered in this Commonwealth, provided that the tortious injury occurring in this Commonwealth arises out of the doing or soliciting of business or a persistent course of conduct or derivation of substantial revenue within the Commonwealth;
5. Causing injury in this Commonwealth to any person by breach of warranty expressly or impliedly made in the sale of goods outside this Commonwealth when the seller knew such person would use, consume, or be affected by, the goods in this Commonwealth, if he also regularly does or solicits business, or engages in any other persistent course of conduct, or derives substantial revenue from goods used or consumed or services rendered in this Commonwealth;
6. Having an interest in, using, or possessing real property in this Commonwealth, providing the claim arises from the interest in, use of, or possession of the real property, provided, however, that such in personam jurisdiction shall not be imposed on a nonresident who did not himself voluntarily institute the relationship, and did not knowingly perform, or fail to perform, the act or acts upon which jurisdiction is predicated;
7. Contracting to insure any person, property, or risk located within this
Commonwealth at the time of contracting;
8. Committing sexual intercourse in this state which intercourse causes the birth of a child when:
a. The father or mother or both are domiciled in this state;
b. There is a repeated pattern of intercourse between the father and mother in this state; or
c. Said intercourse is a tort or a crime in this state; or
9. Making a telephone solicitation, as defined in KRS § 367.46951, or a charitable solicitation as defined in KRS § 367.650 via
telecommunication, into the Commonwealth.
(b) When jurisdiction over a person is based solely upon this section, only a claim arising from acts enumerated in this section may be asserted against him.
(3) (a) When personal jurisdiction is authorized by this section, service of process may be made:
1. In any manner authorized by the Kentucky Rules of Civil Procedure;
2. On such person, or any agent of such person, in any county in this
Commonwealth, where he may be found; or
3. On the Secretary of State who, for this purpose, shall be deemed to be the statutory agent of such person.
(b) The clerk of the court in which the action is brought shall issue a summons against the defendant named in the complaint. The clerk shall execute the summons either by:
1. Sending by certified mail two (2) true copies to the Secretary of State and shall also mail with the summons two (2) attested copies of plaintiff‘s complaint; or
2. Transmitting an electronically attested copy of the complaint and summons to the Secretary of State via the Kentucky Court of Justice electronic filing system.
(c) The Secretary of State shall, within seven (7) days of receipt thereof in his office, mail a copy of the summons and complaint to the defendant at the address given in the complaint. The letter shall be posted by certified mail, return receipt requested, and shall bear the return address of the Secretary of State. The clerk shall make the usual return to the court, and in addition the Secretary of State shall make a return to the court showing that the acts contemplated by this statute have been performed, and shall attach to his return the registry receipt, if any. Summons shall be deemed to be served on the return of the Secretary of State and the action shall proceed as provided in the Rules of Civil Procedure.
(d) The clerk mailing the summons to the Secretary of State shall mail to him, at the same time, a fee of ten dollars ($10), which shall be taxed as costs in the action. The fee for a summons transmitted electronically pursuant to this subsection shall be transmitted to the Secretary of State on a periodic basis.
(4) When the exercise of personal jurisdiction is authorized by this section, any action or suit may be brought in the county wherein the plaintiff resides or where the cause of action or any part thereof arose.
(5) A court of this Commonwealth may exercise jurisdiction on any other basis authorized in the Kentucky Revised Statutes or by the Rules of Civil Procedure, notwithstanding this section.
Effective: June 27, 2019
History: Amended 2019 Ky. Acts ch. 16, sec. 1, effective June 27, 2019; and ch. 105, sec. 5, effective June 27, 2019. — Amended 2014 Ky. Acts ch. 66, sec. 1, effective July 15, 2014. — Amended 2002 Ky. Acts ch. 21, sec. 9, effective July 15, 2002. —
Amended 1988 Ky. Acts ch. 185, sec. 3, effective July 15, 1988. — Amended 1986
Ky. Acts ch. 204, sec. 13, effective July 15, 1986. — Amended 1984 Ky. Acts ch. 56, sec. 1, effective July 13, 1984. — Amended 1982 Ky. Acts ch. 136, sec. 1, effective July 15, 1982; and ch. 159, sec. 5, effective July 15, 1982. — Amended 1980 Ky. Acts ch. 114, sec. 107, effective July 15, 1980. — Amended 1978 Ky. Acts ch. 402, sec. 7, effective June 17, 1978. — Amended 1976 Ky. Acts ch. 27, sec. 20. — Amended 1974 Ky. Acts ch. 315, sec. 87. — Amended 1972 Ky. Acts ch. 307, sec. 3.
— Created 1968 Ky. Acts ch. 46, secs. 1 to 5.
Legislative Research Commission Note (6/27/2019). This statute was amended by 2019
Ky. Acts chs. 16 and 105, which do not appear to be in conflict and have been codified together.