The law library has significant resources for studying Kentucky criminal law, including current and historic statutes, Kentucky legal treatises going back to the 19th century, and legislative documents leading to the adoption of the Kentucky penal code in 1974.
Statutes
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Hein OnlineSee the State Statutes Historical Archive collection for Kentucky statutory codes from 1802-1963, and the Session Law Library collection for Kentucky Acts from 1792 onward.
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Lexis+Law students & faculty only. See also: library guide to Lexis.
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Westlaw EdgeLaw students & faculty only. See also: library guide to Westlaw.
Old Statutes in Westlaw & Lexis
Historic Kentucky statues are available in Westlaw from 1995- and Lexis from 1991-.
In Westlaw the Kentucky Statutes & Court Rules are available under the State Materials tab - Kentucky. You can then search for the whole code by selecting 'Kentucky Statutes Annotated - Historical' under Tools & Resources. Then simply select a year from the list and search for the Statute.
In Lexis you must search for a specific section. First, find the current Kentucky Revised Statutes section and select 'Archived code versions', which will provide all the versions since 1991.
Treatises
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Making of Modern Law
Digital images of legal treatises on US and British law published(1800-1926), trials (1600-1926), and primary sources (1620-1926).
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Law Library CatalogThe law library has many current treatises on Kentucky law in its general and rare books sections. See below for more details.
Secondary Sources for the Legal History of Kentucky Criminal Law
Kentucky treatises are very helpful in determining the law at a point in time:
- James M. Roberson, Kentucky Criminal Law and Procedure (1899)
- R.S. Rose, Kentucky Criminal Law Procedure and Forms (1916)
- William S. Haynes, Kentucky Jurisprudence: Criminal Law (1986)
- Robert G. Lawson, William H. Fortune, Kentucky Criminal Law (1998)
- Leslie W. Abramson, Kentucky Practice: Substantive Criminal Law & Criminal Practice / Procedure (current)
Legislative documents mark important changes:
- Homicide Law in Kentucky (Frankfort, Ky: Legislative Research Commission, 1961)
- Kentucky Penal Code: As Enacted by the 1974 General Assembly and Codified by the Legislative Research Commission (1974)
Kentucky jury instructions are extremely useful in determining the law for various fact patterns:
- John P. Hobson, Instructions to Juries: Being a Treatise on Kentucky ... (1914)
- Osso W. Stanley, Instructions to Juries in Kentucky (1940-1957)
- John S. Palmore, Instructions to Juries in Kentucky (1975-present)
Articles from state law and bar reviews go into some detail on aspect of state criminal law:
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Hein OnlineHas Kentucky Law Journal going back to 1913 when KLJ covered state law extensively.
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Kentucky Bench & Bar Cumulative IndexSearch the Kentucky Bench & Bar index online.
Issues are shelved in the law library periodical section on the 2nd floor.