Georgetown, KY Public Conduct: Jaywalking (2026)

Georgetown Code § 38-80, titled Prohibited crossing, sits in Article V (Pedestrians) of Chapter 38, Traffic and Vehicles. It states that in the downtown central business district no pedestrian shall cross the roadway other than in a crosswalk. The prohibition is geographic: the section names only the downtown central business district. The neighboring sections of Article V cover different conduct, with § 38-81 dealing with demonstrations on or near a sidewalk and § 38-82 with pedestrian assemblies. The text of the Code does not define the district boundary or list its streets, so the line between downtown and the rest of the city is not drawn in these sections.

Penalties come from the general penalty section of the chapter. Section 38-192 makes it a misdemeanor for any person to commit any act forbidden by the chapter, and unless another penalty is expressly provided by federal law, state law or the chapter, every person convicted of violating any provision of the traffic regulations is subject to a fine of not less than $10.00 nor more than $100.00. Section 38-80 prints no penalty of its own.

The pedestrian rule works beside duties placed on drivers in the same chapter. Section 38-71 forbids a driver from entering an intersection or marked crosswalk unless there is sufficient space on the other side to accommodate the vehicle without obstructing the passage of other vehicles or pedestrians, notwithstanding any traffic-control signal indication to proceed. Section 38-109(a)(14) prohibits stopping, standing or parking on a crosswalk. Section 38-70 requires a driver emerging from an alley, driveway or building to stop before driving onto a sidewalk and to yield to any pedestrian as necessary to avoid a collision.

The parking citation system of Article XI, with its fine schedule in § 38-202, is written for the owner of a motor vehicle parked, stopped or standing in violation of the chapter, so it does not reach a pedestrian.