218B.130 Local government -- Ordinances regulating or prohibiting cannabis --
1,878 words·~9 min read·
/ky/218b-130A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Establishment of local fees -- City within a county that prohibits cannabis may
enact ordinance to approve -- Public question -- Procedures -- Local
government to notify cabinet of decision to prohibit cannabis business.
(1)For the purposes of this section, "local government" means a city, county, urban-
county government, consolidated local government, charter county government, or
unified local government.
(2)A local government:
(a)Prior to the cabinet issuing a license to a cannabis business to conduct
business operations within its territory, may:
1. Prohibit all cannabis business operations within its territory through the
passage of an ordinance; or
2. Enact resolutions directing that the question of prohibiting cannabis
businesses from operating within its territory be submitted to the voters
of its territory at the next regular election pursuant to subsection (3)(b)
of this section;
except as provided in KRS 218B.090(5); and
(b)Within whose territory cannabis business operations are permitted, may enact
ordinances:
1. That are not less restrictive than this chapter or any administrative
regulations promulgated thereunder, relating to the time, place, and
manner of cannabis business operations, except that a local government
shall not, except as permitted in paragraph
(a)of this subsection, enact
ordinances that impose an undue burden or make cannabis business
operations unreasonable or impractical; and
2. To establish and assess reasonable local fees to compensate for any
additional costs caused by the operation of cannabis businesses within
its territory. Any fees assessed pursuant to this subparagraph shall not
exceed the additional costs caused by the operation of cannabis
businesses.
(a)If a county, consolidated local government, charter county government, or
unified local government prohibits all cannabis business operations, the
legislative body of a city located within the county, consolidated local
government, charter county government, or unified local government may:
1. Approve cannabis business operations within the limits of the city
through the passage of an ordinance; or
2. Enact resolutions directing that the question of allowing cannabis
businesses to operate within the limits of the city be submitted to the
voters who are eligible to vote in that city's elections at the next regular
election pursuant to paragraph
(b)of this subsection.
(b)If, not later than the second Tuesday in August preceding the day established
for a regular election, the county clerk has received a local government
resolution pursuant to subsection
(2)of this section or paragraph
(a)of this
subsection, the county clerk shall have prepared to place before the voters of
the affected territory at the next regular election the question, which shall be
"Are you in favor of the sale of medicinal cannabis at a licensed dispensary
and the operation of other cannabis businesses in (affected territory)?
Yes....No....". The county clerk shall cause to be published in accordance with
KRS Chapter 424, at the same time as the remaining voter information, the
full text of the proposal. The county clerk shall cause to be posted in each
polling place one
(1)copy of the full text of the proposal.
(4)If a local government legislative body with jurisdiction prohibits cannabis business
operations through the passage of an ordinance, a public question that is initiated by
petition and that proposes allowing a cannabis business to operate within the
affected territory is authorized.
(5)A public question that is initiated by petition and is authorized by subsection
(4)of
this section shall be submitted to the voters within the affected territory at the next
regular election by complying with the following requirements:
(a)Before a petition for submission of the proposal may be presented for
signatures, an intent to circulate the petition, including a copy of the unsigned
petition, shall be filed with the county clerk of the affected territory by a
person or group of persons who have been registered to vote in the affected
territory for at least the previous twelve
(12)months seeking the submission
of the public question. The statement of intent shall include the addresses of
the person or group of persons and shall specify the person or group of
persons, as well as the address, to whom all notices are to be sent. Within ten
(10)days after the intent to circulate the petition is filed, the county clerk shall
deliver a copy of the intent to circulate the petition, including a copy of the
unsigned petition, to the legislative body of the affected territory;
(b)The petition shall set out in full the following question: "Are you in favor of
overturning the decision of the local government legislative body and
allowing the sale of medicinal cannabis at a licensed dispensary and the
operation of other cannabis businesses in (affected territory)?";
(c)The petition for the submission of the proposal shall be signed by a number of
constitutionally qualified voters of the territory to be affected equal to ten
percent (10%) of registered voters for the affected territory;
(d)Each signature shall be executed in ink or indelible pencil and shall be
followed by the legibly printed name of each voter, followed by the voter's
residence address, year of birth, and the correct date upon which the voter's
name was signed;
(e)No petition for the submission of the proposal shall be circulated for more
than six
(6)months prior to its filing;
(f)After a petition for the submission of the proposal has received no fewer than
the number of qualifying signatures required by paragraph
(c)of this
subsection, the signed petition shall be filed with the county clerk. When it is
filed, each sheet of the petition shall have an affidavit executed by the
circulator stating that he or she personally circulated the sheet, the number of
signatures thereon, that all signatures were affixed in his or her presence, that
he or she believes them to be the genuine signatures of registered voters
within the affected territory, and that each signer had an opportunity before
signing to read the full text of the proposal;
(g)No signer of the petition may withdraw his or her name or have it taken from
the petition after the petition has been filed. If the name of any person has
been placed on the petition for submission of the public question without that
person's authority, the person may, at any time prior to certification of
sufficiency of the petition by the county clerk as required by paragraph
(h)of
this subsection, request the removal of his or her name by the county board of
elections and, upon proof that the person's name was placed on the petition
without his or her authority, the person's name and personal information shall
be eliminated, and he or she shall not be counted as a petitioner;
(h)Within thirty
(30)days after the petition is filed, the county clerk shall
complete a certificate as to its sufficiency or, if it is insufficient, specifying
the particulars of the insufficiency, and shall send a copy to the person or
persons specified in the statement of intent to receive all notices and to the
legislative body of the affected territory, all by registered mail. A petition
certified insufficient for lack of the required number of valid signatures may
be amended once by filing a supplemental petition upon additional sheets
within thirty
(30)days after receiving the certificate of insufficiency. The
supplemental petition shall comply with the requirements applicable to the
original petition and, within ten
(10)days after it is filed, the county clerk
shall complete a certificate as to the sufficiency of the petition as amended
and promptly send a copy of the certificate to the person or persons specified
to receive all notices and to the legislative body of the affected territory by
registered mail;
(i)A final determination as to the sufficiency of a petition shall be subject to
review in the Circuit Court of the county of the affected territory and shall be
limited to the validity of the county clerk's determination. A final
determination of insufficiency shall not prejudice the filing of a new petition
for the same purpose; and
(j)If, not later than the second Tuesday in August preceding the day established
for a regular election, the county clerk has certified that a petition is sufficient,
the county clerk shall have prepared to place before the voters of the affected
territory at the next regular election the question, which shall be "Are you in
favor of overturning the decision of the local government legislative body and
allowing the sale of medicinal cannabis at a licensed dispensary and the
operation of other cannabis businesses in (affected territory)? Yes....No....".
The county clerk shall cause to be published in accordance with KRS Chapter
424, at the same time as the remaining voter information, the full text of the
proposal. The county clerk shall cause to be posted in each polling place one
(1)copy of the full text of the proposal.
(6)If the question submitted to the voters under subsection
(3)or
(5)of this section
fails to pass, three
(3)years shall elapse before the question of medicinal cannabis
sales and cannabis business operations may be included on a regular election ballot
for the affected territory.
(7)If the question submitted to the voters under subsection
(3)or
(5)of this section
passes, medicinal cannabis sales and cannabis business operations may be
conducted in the affected territory, notwithstanding any local government
ordinances which prohibit all cannabis business operations within its territory.
(8)In circumstances where a county, consolidated local government, charter county
government, or unified local government prohibits cannabis business operations but
a city within that county, consolidated local government, charter county
government, or unified local government approves cannabis business operations
either through the adoption of an ordinance or following the affirmative vote of a
public question allowing cannabis business operations, then:
(a)The cannabis business operations may proceed within the limits of the city;
and
(b)The county, consolidated local government, charter county government, or
unified local government may assess an additional reasonable fee to
compensate for any additional corrections impact caused by the approval of
cannabis business operations. Any additional fees collected pursuant to this
subsection shall not exceed the additional corrections impact caused by the
approval of cannabis business operations.
(9)In circumstances where neither a city nor the county, urban-county government,
consolidated local government, charter county government, or unified local
government in which the city is located prohibit cannabis business operations, a
cannabis business that is located within the jurisdiction of both the city and the
county shall only pay the reasonable established local fees of either the city or the
county. The fee shall be established, assessed, collected, and shared between the
city and the county, in a manner to be negotiated between the city and the county.
(10)The provisions of general election law shall apply to public questions submitted to
voters under this section.
(11)If a local government elects, pursuant to subsection (2)(a) of this section, to prohibit
cannabis business operations within its territory, the local government shall notify
the cabinet in writing of its decision to prohibit cannabis business operations within
five
(5)days after passage of such an ordinance or after the results of a ballot
question to prohibit cannabis business operations are certified.