KENTUCKY
MANDATORY REPORTING LAWS
MANDATORY REPORTING LAWS
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Professionals required to report
“Citation: Rev. Stat. § 620.030
All persons are required to report, including, but not limited to, the following:
• Physicians, osteopathic physicians, nurses, coroners, medical examiners, residents, interns, chiropractors, dentists, optometrists, emergency medical technicians, paramedics, or health professionals
• Teachers, school personnel, or child care personnel
• Social workers or mental health professionals
• Peace officers”
Other persons required to report
“Citation: Rev. Stat. § 620.030
Any person who knows or has reasonable cause to believe that a child is dependent, neglected, or abused shall immediately report.
Any person who knows or has reasonable cause to believe that a child is a victim of human trafficking, as defined in § 529.010,
immediately shall cause an oral or written report to be made to a local law enforcement agency or the State police, the cabinet or its designated representative, the Commonwealth’s attorney, or the county attorney by telephone or otherwise. This subsection shall apply regardless of whether the person believed to have caused the human trafficking of the child is a parent, guardian, fictive kin, person in a position of authority, person in a position of special trust, or person exercising custodial control or supervision.”
Institutional responsibility to report
“Citation: Rev. Stat. § 620.030(1)
Any supervisor who receives from an employee a report of suspected dependency, neglect, or abuse shall promptly make a report to the proper authorities for investigation. Nothing in this section shall relieve individuals of their obligations to report.”
WHAT ARE THEY REQUIRED TO REPORT
Citation: Rev. Stat. § 620.030
A report is required when a person knows or has reasonable cause to believe that a child is dependent, neglected, or abused.
PENALTIES FOR FAILING TO REPORT
“Failure to Report
Citation: Rev. Stat. § 620.030(6)
Any person who intentionally violates the provisions of this section shall be guilty of one of the following:
• A class B misdemeanor for the first offense
• A class A misdemeanor for the second offense
• A class D felony for each subsequent offense”
PENALTIES FOR FALSE REPORTING
“False Reporting
Citation: Rev. Stat. § 620.050(1)
Any person who knowingly makes a false report and does so with malice shall be guilty of a class A misdemeanor.”
PRIVILEGED COMMUNICATIONS
“Citation: Rev. Stat. § 620.030(4)
Neither the husband-wife nor any professional-client/patient privilege, except the attorney-client and clergy-penitent privilege, shall be a ground for refusing to report.”
REPORTER’S IDENTITY
“Inclusion of Reporter’s Name in Report
The reporter is not specifically required by statute to provide his or her name in the report.
Disclosure of Reporter Identity
Citation: Rev. Stat. § 620.050(11)
Identifying information concerning the individual initiating the report shall not be disclosed, except as follows:
• To law enforcement officials who have a legitimate interest in the case
• To the agency designated by the cabinet to investigate or assess the report
• To members of multidisciplinary teams
• Under a court order, after the court has conducted an in camera review of the record of the State related to the report and has found reasonable cause to believe that the reporter knowingly made a false report
• To the external child fatality and near-fatality review panel”