Franklin County, KY Animal Ordinances: Breed Restrictions (2026)

Franklin County Code § 90.06 is the county's dangerous-dog provision, and it is behavior-based. The section names no breed and no breed list. It turns on whether a particular dog has a vicious propensity. The Fiscal Court wrote one evidentiary shortcut into the text: it is prima facie evidence of viciousness for any dog to bite or attack any person while outside the owner's premises. That means one bite off the property is enough to put the owner on the defensive without any prior history.

The rule covers the unincorporated county, outside the corporate limits of Frankfort, Kentucky, which has its own code. The word owner in § 90.01 includes any person, partnership or corporation that owns, keeps or harbors a dog, and a dog is harbored if it is fed or sheltered for three consecutive days or more. The prohibition is on harboring or keeping, so a person who feeds a biting dog for three days is exposed alongside its original owner.

The second half of § 90.06 deals with rabies. If the Franklin County Humane Society, Inc., detains or keeps in isolation a dog to determine whether it has rabies, the owner is liable to the Humane Society, Inc., Small Animal Shelter, for boarding fees. Enforcement is by the Dog Warden, employed and appointed by the Fiscal Court, or any peace officer, who can issue a citation or criminal complaint under § 90.03. Section 90.05 adds a related duty: an owner must prevent a dog from molesting passers-by, attacking other domestic animals, or damaging property. A dog that is found off the premises can be impounded under § 90.02 and held for not less than seven days.