Hiring a DUI Lawyer in Kentucky
What a first DUI can cost in Kentucky, how criminal lawyers charge, your right to a public defender, how to check a lawyer's license, and free help. We do not recommend or rank lawyers.
What a lawyer costs in Kentucky: fee rules
| If you disagree with a lawyer's bill | The Kentucky Bar Association offers Legal Fee Arbitration under Supreme Court Rule 3.810 for disputes between a lawyer and client over the fee for particular legal services. It is free, and panel members are unpaid. It is voluntary: either side may start it, and the other side has 20 days to agree. Once both agree, the panel's award is binding and enforceable under KRS 417.180. |
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| If a lawyer takes your money | The KBA Clients' Security Fund, paid for by Kentucky lawyers' dues, provides discretionary partial restitution to clients who lost money through a Kentucky lawyer's dishonesty, fraud or other unethical conduct (such as theft, embezzlement or conversion) within the attorney-client relationship; malpractice losses are not covered. Caps: $50,000 per claim and $150,000 total per attorney (prorated if claims exceed the cap); only actual financial losses are paid. File no later than two years after you knew or should have known of the dishonesty. There is no fee, and no lawyer may charge to file a claim for you. |
Kentucky rules to know first
| First-offense DUI penalties | First offense within 10 years: fine of $200 to $500, or 48 hours to 30 days in county jail, or both; the judge may allow a community labor program of 48 hours to 30 days instead. If aggravating circumstances are present, there is a mandatory minimum of 4 days in jail. License suspension is 6 months, or 4 months for a person issued an ignition interlock license who meets the 90-consecutive-day requirement within the first 4 months. An under-21 driver convicted at 0.02 (but under 0.08) faces a $100–$500 fine or 20 hours of community service instead. |
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| Refusing a breath test | Refusing a breath or blood test results in suspension of the driver's license by the court at arraignment, while the case is pending. A breath-test refusal can be used as evidence in court; a blood-test refusal cannot. If later convicted of a second or third DUI within 10 years, a person who refused a test faces a mandatory minimum jail sentence twice as long. If the person is not convicted but the court finds there was a refusal, the license is suspended for the same period a DUI conviction would bring; the court may allow an ignition interlock license. Source: KRS 189A.105, 189A.107 |
| Hardship license | A person suspended for DUI may apply for an ignition interlock license, which allows driving only a vehicle with an interlock device during the suspension (it can be applied for at any time, including while a refusal suspension is pending). A court-granted hardship license (for work, school, medical care or required programs) is available only for suspensions under the drug-related DUI provisions (KRS 189A.010(1)(c) or (d)) and not when a test was refused. Source: KRS 189A.340, 189A.410 |
Find and check a lawyer
| Lawyer referral service | The Kentucky Bar Association does not run a referral service; as a public service it lists regional lawyer referral services that are "not affiliated with the Kentucky Bar Association": Central Kentucky Lawyer Referral Service, (859) 225-8644, weekdays 9 a.m.-4 p.m. (Bourbon, Clark, Fayette, Franklin, Jessamine, Madison, Scott and Woodford counties); Kentucky Lawyer Referral Service, (502) 583-1801, weekdays 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. (Jefferson and surrounding counties, plus several southern Indiana counties); and Northern Kentucky Bar Association Lawyer Referral Services, (859) 781-1525 (Boone, Campbell, Carroll, Gallatin, Grant, Kenton, Owen and Pendleton counties). The KBA also offers a Directory of Kentucky Attorneys. |
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| Check that the lawyer is licensed | The Kentucky Bar Association's Find a Lawyer page (Directory of Kentucky Attorneys) lets the public search for Kentucky attorneys; the KBA also posts a list of currently suspended and disbarred lawyers. |
| Check discipline history or file a complaint | Complaints about Kentucky lawyers go to the KBA's Office of Bar Counsel on its sworn complaint form, which must have a notarized signature; complaints cannot be submitted by phone, email or fax. Use one form per attorney (not a firm), state specifically what the lawyer did or failed to do, list witnesses, and attach copies (not originals) of documents. Complaints are first reviewed to see whether they allege an investigable ethics violation; the complainant is a witness, not a party, and the matter is confidential at this stage under SCR 3.150. To have a form mailed, call (502) 564-3795 ext. 723. Kentucky Bar Association: 514 W. Main St., Frankfort, KY 40601. Attorney discipline: https://kybar.org/For-Members/Office-of-Bar-Counsel/Attorney-Discipline |
Free legal help
| Free legal aid | Kentucky's LSC-funded legal aid organizations give free civil legal help to eligible low-income people by region: Appalachian Research and Defense Fund of Kentucky (AppalReD), Kentucky Legal Aid, Legal Aid of the Bluegrass and Legal Aid Society (Louisville). The Kentucky Bar Association notes, "If you cannot afford an attorney, a legal aid program may be able to help." |
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All legal help in Kentucky · Do I need a lawyer?
General legal information, not legal advice. Laws change and local rules can differ; check the linked official source or talk to a lawyer about your situation.