Kentucky · verified October 5, 2026

Kentucky AI laws for political campaigns

Disclosure required1 AI call rule3 political AI laws

In the last 45 days before a Kentucky primary or general election, a state or local candidate shown in AI-manipulated audio or video (including in phone calls) can get a court order forcing the sponsor to add a clear and conspicuous disclosure, and ignoring that order is a Class D felony; separately, Kentucky requires an Attorney General permit and bond before using automated recorded-message calling equipment.

Political ad AI law
Disclosure
When it applies
Within 45 days before a primary or regular election
Required AI disclaimer
Clear AI statement
Criminal penalty
Yes
Candidate can sue
Yes
AI voice calls
1 state rule + TCPA

Political ads and deepfakes

Does Kentucky regulate AI in political ads?

Yes. Since March 24, 2025, KRS 117.322 lets any candidate whose appearance, action, or speech is altered with synthetic media in an electioneering communication sue the sponsor for an injunction requiring a clear and conspicuous disclosure, plus attorney fees. Electioneering communications are broadcast, cable, internet, radio, electronic billboard, phone calls to residences, or other electronic communications that refer to a state, county, city, or district candidate or a ballot measure and are distributed to that electorate within 45 days before a primary or regular election. Including a clear and conspicuous disclosure is a complete defense. Defying a court order to add the disclosure carries the Class D felony penalty in KRS 121.990(3). Key law (SB 4 (2025 Regular Session), 2025 Ky. Acts ch. 66, sec. 4 and 5, KRS 117.322 (definitions in KRS 117.001)).

SB 4 (2025 Regular Session), 2025 Ky. Acts ch. 66, sec. 4 and 5: Action against use of synthetic media in electioneering communication

In effect
Citation
KRS 117.322 (definitions in KRS 117.001)
Enacted
March 24, 2025
Effective
March 24, 2025
When it applies
within 45 days before a primary or regular election
Media covered
audio or video recordings of an identifiable real person intentionally manipulated with generative adversarial network (machine learning) techniques to create a realistic but false depiction, made without the person's consent, that gives a fundamentally different impression than the original. Still images are not covered.
Who it covers
the sponsor (the person or entity paying for the communication; if an agent is reimbursed, the original source of funds). Broadcast and media outlets and their ad sales reps are not liable unless they intentionally remove a disclosure and do not fix it when notified, or alter content so it becomes synthetic media. Interactive computer services keep Section 230 protection.
Rule
disclosure required
Intent required
No intent element for the sponsor; the manipulation itself must be intentional. The plaintiff must prove use of synthetic media by clear and convincing evidence.
Disclaimer format
A disclosure that is clear and conspicuous and included in, or alongside and associated with, the content in a manner that is likely to be noticed by the user. No set wording, size, or duration.
Exemptions
  • news articles, editorials, opinion, commentary, and letters in periodicals not owned or controlled by a candidate, committee, or party
  • bona fide newscasts, news interviews, documentaries, and on-the-spot news coverage by stations not owned or controlled by a candidate, committee, or party (if they do not strip the sponsor's disclaimer)
  • communications in the regular course of business and membership organization communications to members and families
  • references to a candidate only in the popular name of a bill or statute
  • communications that are contributions or independent expenditures under KRS 121.015
  • federally licensed broadcasters airing communications subject to 47 U.S.C. 315
  • content that already contains the disclosure is not synthetic media
Criminal penalty
Failure to comply with a court order to include the disclosure is subject to the penalties in KRS 121.990(3) for violating KRS 121.190(1): a Class D felony for each offense (121.990(3) applies to knowing violations).
Civil penalty
Court may award the prevailing party reasonable attorney fees and costs; other remedies are preserved.
Who can sue
Yes. Any candidate for elected office whose appearance, action, or speech is altered may seek an injunction or other equitable relief against the sponsor, filed in the Circuit Court of the county where the candidate lives. Courts are encouraged to decide quickly.
Injunction available
Yes
Court challenges
No reported lawsuit under KRS 117.322 was found. AI deepfake attack ads in the May 2026 northern Kentucky Republican primary for U.S. House (Rep. Thomas Massie), which Massie publicly called defamatory, involved a federal race outside the statute's state and local candidate definition.
Notes
Enacted inside SB 4, mainly a state government AI governance bill, with an emergency clause citing the need to protect candidates and election officers from fraudulent misrepresentations. Key limits: covers only state, county, city, and district candidates and ballot measures (not federal races), only audio and video (not still images), and only the 45-day window. The definition of electioneering communication excludes communications that are contributions or independent expenditures under KRS 121.015, which may narrow which ads are covered; no court has interpreted this. The definition expressly includes telephone calls to personal residences, so AI voice calls that imitate a candidate are covered. There is no outright prohibition: the remedy is a court order compelling a disclosure, and a clear and conspicuous disclosure is an affirmative defense. Text confirmed against KRS 117.322 (effective 2025-03-24, created 2025 Ky. Acts ch. 66, sec. 5).

Read the official text

Bills to watch

  • HB 21 (2025): Separate 2025 election deepfake bill. Failed March 2025 (per Public Citizen)
  • HB 672 (2025): Companion to SB 4 listed by Public Citizen. Not separately enacted; SB 4 became law

For campaigns and consultants

Before an AI ad runs in Kentucky

  • In the final 45 days before a Kentucky primary or general election, put a clear and conspicuous AI disclosure on any audio or video that alters a state or local candidate's appearance, actions, or speech. It is a full defense.
  • This includes recorded and AI voice phone calls: electioneering communications include calls to personal residences.
  • If a court orders you to add a disclosure, comply immediately: defiance is a Class D felony.
  • Federal candidates are not covered by KRS 117.322, but FEC and FCC rules and defamation law still apply to federal deepfakes.
  • Keep the regular "paid for by" disclaimer under KRS 121.190 on all express advocacy.

AI voice calls and texts

Can a campaign use AI voice calls in Kentucky?

Kentucky regulates automated calling equipment that dials numbers and delivers recorded messages (KRS 367.461 to 367.469), and the statute expressly mentions recorded messages and artificial voices. Calls for conducting polls, soliciting information, or advertising require consent (a live operator introduction or keypad opt-in for that call, or written consent valid two years), name and callback number within the first 25 seconds and at the end, disconnect within 10 seconds, no random or sequential dialing, no calls to unlisted numbers, hospitals, nursing homes, or police and fire, calls only 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., and attended equipment. Anyone using automated calling equipment to call Kentucky numbers must first get an Attorney General permit and post a $10,000 bond unless an exception applies. There is no explicit political exemption; automated polling (IVR) calls are clearly covered, while pure persuasion or GOTV recorded calls are less clearly within the listed purposes. In addition, KRS 117.322 treats AI-altered candidate voices in calls to residences within 45 days of an election as synthetic media subject to a disclosure order.

1992 Ky. Acts ch. 32, amended 2020 Ky. Acts ch. 71: Automated calling equipment

In effect
Citation
KRS 367.461, 367.463, 367.467, 367.469
Enacted
1992
Effective
July 14, 1992
When it applies
anytime; calls only between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m.
Media covered
recorded messages or artificial voices delivered by equipment that selects or dials numbers
Who it covers
any person using automated calling equipment for conducting polls, soliciting information, or advertising goods, services, or property; the permit requirement applies to anyone using the equipment to call Kentucky numbers unless an exception applies
Rule
ban unless disclosed
Disclaimer format
Consent first (live operator who states intent to play a recorded message, keypad consent response, or written consent). Recorded message must state the name and telephone number of the person or organization initiating the call within the first 25 seconds and at the end; that number must be answered personally during office hours by someone who can explain the calls.
Exemptions
  • calls responding to calls initiated by the person called
  • goods or services previously ordered or purchased
  • debt collection
  • public school absenteeism programs
  • meeting and activity notices from organizations the person belongs to, or existing business relationships
  • calls to publicly listed business numbers for customary customer purposes
Civil penalty
Violations are unfair and deceptive acts under KRS 367.170, with Attorney General remedies and KRS 367.990 penalties
Injunction available
Yes
Notes
Permit under KRS 367.469 requires name, address, phone, a Kentucky agent for out-of-state operators, and a $10,000 surety bond. Whether the Consumer Protection Act remedies reach non-commercial political calls has not been confirmed. Exact KRS 367.990 penalty amounts not confirmed.

Read the official text

Federal floor everywhere: AI-generated voices are “artificial” voices under the TCPA (FCC, February 2024), so they need prior express consent to cell phones and must identify the caller at the start of the call. AI robocall laws in every state

AI and election administration laws

Other Kentucky AI laws that touch elections

SB 4 (2025), 2025 Ky. Acts ch. 66: State government AI governance plus election synthetic media remedy

KRS 42.720 to 42.742 (state AI governance) and KRS 117.322 · effective March 24, 2025

The same act that created the election deepfake remedy also created an Artificial Intelligence Governance Committee and requires the Commonwealth Office of Technology to set standards and publicly disclose certain state uses of AI. Its emergency clause states a purpose of protecting candidates and election officers from fraudulent misrepresentations.

Official text

Federal layer

Federal rules that apply in Kentucky

At the federal level, the binding rules that hit AI in campaigns today are the TCPA and FCC robocall rules, not any AI-specific election law. Since February 2024 the FCC treats AI-generated voices as "artificial" voices, so AI voice calls to cell phones need prior express consent (political calls included), AI or prerecorded political calls to landlines are limited to three per 30 days without consent, and every such message must identify the caller, give a callback number and offer an opt-out. The FEC says its existing fraudulent misrepresentation ban covers AI, but it has had no quorum since April 2025 and cannot enforce. Proposed FCC rules on AI disclosure in broadcast political ads and in AI calls were never adopted, and no federal AI political ad disclaimer bill has passed. Federal efforts to preempt state AI laws (a 2025 moratorium the Senate struck 99 to 1, and Executive Order 14365) have not displaced any state election or robocall law as of October 2026.

FCC, FEC and the federal preemption fight

How Kentucky compares

25 other jurisdictions share Kentucky's status (disclosure):

Alabama · Arizona · Colorado · Delaware · Florida · Idaho · Indiana · Louisiana · Maine · Michigan · Mississippi · Montana · Nevada · New Hampshire · New Mexico · New York · North Dakota · Oregon · Rhode Island · South Dakota · Tennessee · Utah · Vermont · Washington · Wisconsin

See Kentucky on the mapPolitical deepfake laws, all statesDisclaimer generatorKentucky 2026 electionsKentucky underdog paths to victory

HyperPhonebank

Voter contact that clears Kentucky's AI rules before the first dial.

Live professional callers and AI voice programs for voter ID, persuasion, ballot chase and GOTV, scripted to the disclosure and consent rules on this page, with every call graded and a real time dashboard.

Frequently asked questions

Does Kentucky regulate AI in political ads?

Yes. Since March 24, 2025, KRS 117.322 lets any candidate whose appearance, action, or speech is altered with synthetic media in an electioneering communication sue the sponsor for an injunction requiring a clear and conspicuous disclosure, plus attorney fees. Electioneering communications are broadcast, cable, internet, radio, electronic billboard, phone calls to residences, or other electronic communications that refer to a state, county, city, or district candidate or a ballot measure and are distributed to that electorate within 45 days before a primary or regular election. Including a clear and conspicuous disclosure is a complete defense. Defying a court order to add the disclosure carries the Class D felony penalty in KRS 121.990(3). Key law (SB 4 (2025 Regular Session), 2025 Ky. Acts ch. 66, sec. 4 and 5, KRS 117.322 (definitions in KRS 117.001)).

What AI disclaimer does Kentucky require on political ads?

Kentucky does not prescribe exact wording. Since March 24, 2025, KRS 117.322 lets any candidate whose appearance, action, or speech is altered with synthetic media in an electioneering communication sue the sponsor for an injunction requiring a clear and conspicuous disclosure, plus attorney fees. Electioneering communications are broadcast, cable, internet, radio, electronic billboard, phone calls to residences, or other electronic communications that refer to a state, county, city, or district candidate or a ballot measure and are distributed to that electorate within 45 days before a primary or regular election. Including a clear and conspicuous disclosure is a complete defense. Defying a court order to add the disclosure carries the Class D felony penalty in KRS 121.990(3).

What is the penalty for a deceptive political deepfake in Kentucky?

Criminal: Failure to comply with a court order to include the disclosure is subject to the penalties in KRS 121.990(3) for violating KRS 121.190(1): a Class D felony for each offense (121.990(3) applies to knowing violations). Civil: Court may award the prevailing party reasonable attorney fees and costs; other remedies are preserved. Private lawsuits: Yes. Any candidate for elected office whose appearance, action, or speech is altered may seek an injunction or other equitable relief against the sponsor, filed in the Circuit Court of the county where the candidate lives. Courts are encouraged to decide quickly.

When does the Kentucky political deepfake law apply?

within 45 days before a primary or regular election. It covers audio or video recordings of an identifiable real person intentionally manipulated with generative adversarial network (machine learning) techniques to create a realistic but false depiction, made without the person's consent, that gives a fundamentally different impression than the original. Still images are not covered.

Can a campaign use an AI voice for robocalls in Kentucky?

Kentucky regulates automated calling equipment that dials numbers and delivers recorded messages (KRS 367.461 to 367.469), and the statute expressly mentions recorded messages and artificial voices. Calls for conducting polls, soliciting information, or advertising require consent (a live operator introduction or keypad opt-in for that call, or written consent valid two years), name and callback number within the first 25 seconds and at the end, disconnect within 10 seconds, no random or sequential dialing, no calls to unlisted numbers, hospitals, nursing homes, or police and fire, calls only 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., and attended equipment. Anyone using automated calling equipment to call Kentucky numbers must first get an Attorney General permit and post a $10,000 bond unless an exception applies. There is no explicit political exemption; automated polling (IVR) calls are clearly covered, while pure persuasion or GOTV recorded calls are less clearly within the listed purposes. In addition, KRS 117.322 treats AI-altered candidate voices in calls to residences within 45 days of an election as synthetic media subject to a disclosure order. Under federal law, the FCC ruled in February 2024 that AI-generated voices are "artificial" voices under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, so prerecorded or AI voice calls to cell phones need prior express consent, and every such call must identify the caller at the start.

Does Kentucky have other AI election laws beyond political ads?

Yes. SB 4 (2025), 2025 Ky. Acts ch. 66, State government AI governance plus election synthetic media remedy: The same act that created the election deepfake remedy also created an Artificial Intelligence Governance Committee and requires the Commonwealth Office of Technology to set standards and publicly disclose certain state uses of AI. Its emergency clause states a purpose of protecting candidates and election officers from fraudulent misrepresentations.

How many political AI laws does Kentucky have?

This tracker counts 3 Kentucky AI laws touching politics and elections as of October 5, 2026: 1 on elections, 1 on AI or artificial voice calls, 1 on voting and election officials.

Are there pending AI election bills in Kentucky?

HB 21 (2025) (Separate 2025 election deepfake bill): Failed March 2025 (per Public Citizen). HB 672 (2025) (Companion to SB 4 listed by Public Citizen): Not separately enacted; SB 4 became law.

Sources

Verified October 5, 2026 against official legislature and statute pages. This page summarizes Kentucky law for campaigns and is not legal advice.