Kentucky lets a county or city open its highways to minitrucks

Kentucky now has a way onto the road for a minitruck, and it runs through local government. A law of 2025, Senate Bill 63, took effect on 27 June 2025 and made the minitruck a street-legal special purpose vehicle where a county or city allows it by ordinance ¹. Inside a local government that has not passed an ordinance, the vehicle may not be driven on a highway as a street-legal special purpose vehicle ².

The state sets the terms. The vehicle must carry the equipment the statute lists, including a roll bar or roll cage, be inspected by a certified inspector, be registered and be insured for tort liability in the form and amounts the law sets for motorcycles ³. The county clerk issues a motorcycle registration plate ⁴. A local government may adopt stricter safety and operating rules than the state list ⁵.

The limits are firm. It may never be driven on a controlled-access highway, including an interstate or parkway. It may not be driven on a highway built under a federal highway program ⁶. It may run no more than 20 miles on a highway marked with a centerline ⁷.

The Transportation Cabinet's rule for these vehicles, 601 KAR 23:070, has been in force since 3 February 2026 ⁸. A proposed amendment that would make the inspection annual is shown as not yet current, and its status was not confirmed ⁹.

Two later dates matter. From 1 January 2027 a Kentucky title is held in the state's electronic title system and is not mailed ¹⁰. From 1 January 2028 a registered street-legal special purpose vehicle is exempt from state and local ad valorem taxes ¹¹.

An older law, KRS 189.517, still applies where no ordinance exists. It lets a minitruck cross a two lane highway and work on one for farm, construction, road maintenance or snow removal, in daylight ¹².

This post reports the public record as read on 29 October 2026. It is general information and not legal advice.