Jessamine County, KY Animal Ordinances: Dog Leash Laws (2026)

Section 90.03 of the Jessamine County Code, adopted by the Fiscal Court in the animal control chapter, puts the burden on the owner. Under subsection (A), the owner of a canine is responsible for restricting that canine to the owner's property 24 hours a day. The code lists the acceptable means: leash, chain, leash and running wire, fence (electrified or non-electrified), or any other means, as long as the means are calculated to restrict the canine in a reasonable and humane manner. A tethered dog must also meet § 90.08(F), which requires no less than ten feet of chain or cable with a swivel, a fixed immobile anchor point, and a nylon or leather collar rather than a training collar.

Subsection (B) sets the presumption: any canine found on public or private property outside its owner's premises that is not restrained or under its owner's control is presumed to be running at large and in violation of the chapter. Subsection (C) lets an Animal Control Officer impound the dog as stipulated in KRS 258.215(1). Under subsection (D), an impounded dog is held at the animal shelter for five days. After that the dog becomes the property of the Jessamine County Fiscal Court and is offered for adoption or can be euthanized at the discretion of the Director of Animal Care and Control.

Getting the dog back has its own steps. Section 90.02(D) requires the owner to pay a return to owner fee set by the Fiscal Court and to show proof of a Jessamine County Canine License before release, and every canine is injected with a microchip before it leaves the shelter. Section 90.06 makes the owner liable under the chapter for damages caused when a canine not under control leaves the property.

Two exceptions appear in subsection (E). The chapter does not apply to a hound or hunting canine released from confinement for hunting, as stipulated in KRS 258.215(2), and a canine left unattended in a motor vehicle is deemed compliant while it stays in the vehicle and the owner meets the stipulations of § 90.08(G). Section 90.08(O) adds a separate bar on letting a canine, on or off leash, intimidate, harass or worry another canine on its own owner's property.