What Are the CLE Requirements for Kentucky Attorneys?
Kentucky attorneys must complete at least 12 CLE credit hours each educational year, including 2 hours of ethics, professional responsibility and professionalism, under Kentucky's CLE rule, SCR 3.645.
The educational year ends June 30, and certification is due by August 10 — a late certification carries a $50 per-certificate fee.
Excess credits carry forward into the next 2 educational years, capped at 24 credits including 4 ethics credits, and newly admitted lawyers must complete the Kentucky Bar Association's New Lawyer Program within 12 months of admission.
Verify before you rely on this
At a glance
The Kentucky Bar Association Continuing Legal Education Commission — the Commission SCR 3.645 names.
The KBA's CLE section is at kybar.org/CLE; our research did not confirm which forms or portal it carries.
At least 12 CLE credit hours each educational year, including 2 hours of ethics, professional responsibility and professionalism.
One educational year ending June 30: all CLE activities must be completed by June 30, and certification is due by August 10.
2 of the 12 hours in ethics, professional responsibility and professionalism; no other category minimum is established in our research.
Not established in our research — ask the CLE regulator.
The KBA New Lawyer Program, completed within 12 months of admission; it is free for those required to take it.
A certification filed late carries a $50 per-certificate fee.
How many CLE hours does Kentucky require?
Kentucky's CLE rule, SCR 3.645, requires a Kentucky lawyer to complete and certify a minimum of 12 credit hours of continuing legal education each educational year, in activities approved by the Commission.
The 12 hours carry one built-in category requirement: at least 2 of them must be in ethics, professional responsibility and professionalism.
Those ethics hours are the one specialty minimum the rule text our research read sets out, and the next section covers them in detail.
“shall complete and certify a minimum of 12 credit hours in continuing legal education activities approved by the Commission, including a minimum of 2 credit hours devoted to "ethics, professional responsibility and professionalism"”
What specialty credits are required (ethics, bias, wellness, tech)?
The one specialty minimum SCR 3.645 sets out, as our research read it, is 2 of the 12 credit hours in ethics, professional responsibility and professionalism.
Our research did not confirm a separate minimum for bias, wellness, substance-abuse or technology credits: the rule text we read establishes the 12-hour total and the 2 ethics hours, and no other category minimum appears on the pages we read.
This page does not describe minimums we could not confirm, so if you are counting a specific diversity, wellness or technology program toward Kentucky's requirement, confirm the category with the KBA Continuing Legal Education Commission before you plan your year.
When is the deadline, and how do you report?
Kentucky runs CLE on the educational year, which ends June 30 — all continuing legal education activities must be completed by June 30.
Certification is then due by August 10 after the educational year closes, and a certification filed late carries a $50 per-certificate fee.
The Kentucky Bar Association's CLE section is at kybar.org/CLE, but our research did not confirm which reporting forms or member portal it carries, so check how to certify with the Commission.
“All continuing legal education activities must be completed by June 30 of each educational year.”
What are the rules for newly admitted Kentucky attorneys?
Every newly admitted Kentucky lawyer must complete the Kentucky Bar Association's New Lawyer Program within 12 months of admission, and the program is free for those required to take it.
How New Lawyer Program hours interact with the annual 12-hour educational-year total is not detailed on the KBA page our research read, so a lawyer counting those hours toward the 12 should confirm crediting with the Commission.
Getting into the Kentucky bar itself — the exam, scores and reciprocity — is a separate process from these annual CLE requirements.
“Within 12 months following the date of admission as set forth on the certificate of admission, each person admitted to membership to the Kentucky Bar Association shall complete the New Lawyer Program.”
Can you complete Kentucky CLE online or on demand?
Our research confirmed the 12-hour total, the 2-hour ethics minimum and the June 30 completion date, but it did not establish whether Kentucky caps the credits a lawyer may earn through online, recorded or on-demand programs.
No format cap appears on the rule text or the KBA CLE pages we read, and the definitional rules around SCR 3.645 were outside what our research could read, so this page does not state a limit in either direction.
If you plan to earn part or all of a year's 12 hours online or on demand, confirm with the KBA Continuing Legal Education Commission how those formats are credited before you rely on them.
Do Kentucky CLE hours carry over, and who is exempt?
Kentucky lets lawyers carry forward excess credits into the next 2 educational years, and carry-forward credits are capped at 24 credits including 4 ethics credits.
So a lawyer who earns more than a year's 12 hours can bank the excess for up to two further years, within that 24-credit ceiling.
On exemptions, the pages our research read do not lay out which Kentucky attorneys, if any, qualify for an exemption or waiver from the requirement, so an exemption question belongs with the Commission.
“Carry-forward credits are limited to a total of 24 credits, including 4 ethics credits.”
What happens if you miss the Kentucky deadline?
The consequence the rule text our research read sets is financial: a certification filed after the August 10 deadline carries a late filing fee of $50.00 per certificate.
What happens beyond that late fee — whether Kentucky suspends or otherwise reclassifies a lawyer who remains short on hours — was not established on the pages we read, so that question belongs with the KBA Continuing Legal Education Commission.
“late filing fee of $50.00 per certificate”
Have Kentucky's CLE requirements changed recently?
The rule this page describes is SCR 3.645 as our research read it in October 2026: a minimum of 12 credit hours each educational year, including 2 in ethics, professional responsibility and professionalism.
Older summaries list Kentucky's requirement as 12.5 CLE hours a year.
That figure traces to the former SCR 3.661, and it is out of date; our research did not establish when the change took effect.
If a source quotes 12.5 hours for Kentucky, check its date against current SCR 3.645 before you plan a reporting year around it.
What This Page Does, and Doesn’t, Cover
This page summarizes the Kentucky court rules, board and bar pages and other sources listed below, as read for this state-by-state CLE requirements series, current as of October 2026.
It is not a substitute for the instructions the Kentucky Bar Association Continuing Legal Education Commission publishes.
For the rest of the picture in Kentucky, see bar admission rules in Kentucky.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Kentucky CLE 12 or 12.5 hours?
Kentucky requires 12: a minimum of 12 credit hours each educational year, including 2 in ethics, professional responsibility and professionalism, under SCR 3.645.
The 12.5-hour figure traces to the former SCR 3.661 and is out of date.
Confirm against current SCR 3.645 or with the Kentucky Bar Association Continuing Legal Education Commission before you plan a year around either number.
When are Kentucky CLE credits due?
The activities themselves must be completed by June 30, when Kentucky's CLE educational year ends.
Certification is then due by August 10 after the educational year, and a certification filed late carries a $50 per-certificate fee.
The Kentucky Bar Association's CLE section is at kybar.org/CLE; our research did not confirm which forms or portal it carries, so check how to certify with the Commission.
How many CLE credits can Kentucky attorneys carry over?
Kentucky lets lawyers carry forward excess credits into the next 2 educational years, with carry-forward credits limited to a total of 24 credits, including 4 ethics credits.
That 24-credit total is the rule's ceiling on carried-forward credits, so hours beyond it are not carried into a later educational year under the rule our research read.
Do new Kentucky lawyers have to take the New Lawyer Program?
Yes.
Within 12 months following the date of admission, each person admitted to membership in the Kentucky Bar Association must complete the New Lawyer Program, and it is free for those required to take it.
How those program hours interact with the annual 12-hour CLE total was not detailed on the pages our research read, so confirm crediting with the Commission.
Can Kentucky attorneys count online or on-demand CLE?
Our research did not establish a cap on online, recorded or on-demand credit in Kentucky.
The rule text we read sets the 12-hour total, the 2-hour ethics minimum and the June 30 completion date, but no format limit appears on the pages we read.
Confirm how a specific online program is credited with the KBA Continuing Legal Education Commission before you rely on it.
More Kentucky Resources
Sources
- Kentucky court rules: SCR 3.645 (Westlaw) (retrieved 2026-10-02)
- Kentucky Bar Association: New Lawyer Program Information (retrieved 2026-10-02)
- Kentucky Bar Association: CLE (retrieved 2026-10-02)
Sourced from the documents listed above.
Verified October 2026.
This is career information, not legal advice.
Confirm current rules with the Kentucky Bar Association Continuing Legal Education Commission.