Moving to Kentucky: Your Checklist for License, Title, Registration, Insurance and Voting

Moving to Kentucky starts a fast clock for your car. You have 15 days after bringing a vehicle into the state to insure it here, title or register it, and get a Kentucky plate [2]. Your driver’s license has a 30-day deadline [1]. Before the county clerk will title your car, a sheriff’s inspector has to look at it [3].

1. Insure the car

Every owner of a vehicle registered or driven in Kentucky must keep insurance on it continuously. An owner who doesn’t can have the registration revoked and face penalties [7]. Kentucky’s minimum liability coverage is [4]:

• $25,000 for injury to one person,
• $50,000 for injuries to everyone in one accident,
• $25,000 for property damage,

or a single limit of $60,000 for all damages in one accident. The policy must also include basic reparation benefits , Kentucky’s no-fault coverage, which pays up to $10,000 per person per accident [4][5]. Motorcycles need only the liability coverage [4].

2. Get the car inspected, then title and register it

The inspection comes first. Before you apply for a Kentucky title, a certified inspector in the county where you’ll apply must inspect the vehicle and your title papers [3]. Inspectors are designated by the county sheriff. The fee is $15 for an individual, plus $20 if the inspector has to travel to the vehicle [3].

Then go to the county clerk. You have a 15-day grace period from the day you bring the vehicle into Kentucky to get insurance, a registration or title, and a plate in your name [2].

3. Get your Kentucky driver’s license within 30 days

A licensed driver who becomes a Kentucky resident must apply for a Kentucky operator’s license within 30 days of establishing residency [1]. Before issuing it, the Transportation Cabinet checks the National Driver Register to make sure your license isn’t suspended or revoked anywhere else [1].

A few people can keep driving on an out-of-state license, including full- or part-time students at a Kentucky college who carry their student ID, and active-duty service members stationed in Kentucky who keep a home of record elsewhere, and their spouses [8].

4. Register to vote

You can register if you meet Kentucky’s voter qualifications [6]. Ways to register [6]:

• in person with your county clerk,
• by mail, on the state form or the national mail-in form,
• through other methods the State Board of Elections approves.

When registration closes [6]:

• Primary or general election: the fourth Tuesday before the election, until the first Monday after.
• Special election: 28 days before, until 7 days after.

The clerk can accept a registration while the books are closed, but someone who registers then can’t vote in that upcoming election [6].

Quick checklist

• Get Kentucky car insurance that meets the minimums, including no-fault benefits.
• Have the sheriff’s certified inspector check the car and your title papers.
• Title and register the car with the county clerk within 15 days of bringing it in.
• Apply for your Kentucky driver’s license within 30 days.
• Register to vote before the fourth Tuesday ahead of the next election.