Your license expires on a schedule tied to your birthday, and it can be taken away for serious or repeated violations. Kentucky's point system identifies drivers who need improvement before a suspension becomes necessary.
Renewal and replacement:
- Under 21: your license expires 90 days after your 21st birthday
- 21 and older: it expires 31 days after your birthday; renew up to six months early
- Expired less than 5 years: no testing. More than 5 years: start over as a new driver
- Licenses are valid 4 or 8 years; 8-year only for new standard licenses and REAL IDs
- Lost credential: request a replacement by mail or at any Regional Office
Know the rule
If you change your address or name, get a duplicate license within 10 days—you can be cited if you don't. A name change needs one legal proof (birth certificate, court order, marriage license, divorce decree). A Social Security card isn't proof, but you must show your updated one.
Handbook p. 22 ↗Your license may be suspended or revoked for:
- Perjury or false information to the Transportation Cabinet
- Driving a car, motorcycle or moped without a license
- Violating restrictions on your license
- Failing to keep liability insurance
- Failing to enroll in or complete court-ordered State Traffic School
- Failing to satisfy a citation or court summons
- Failing to pay child support
- Using a license fraudulently to buy or try to buy alcohol
- Reckless driving: three convictions within twelve months
…and also for:
- Driving under the influence (DUI)
- Refusing a chemical test lawfully requested by an officer
- Fleeing or evading police
- Leaving a crash scene without stopping, identifying yourself or rendering aid
- Theft of gasoline, or of a motor vehicle or any part of one
- A felony involving a motor vehicle
- Manslaughter resulting from operating a motor vehicle
Know the rule
Fail to pay a court judgment for damages from a vehicle crash within 60 days and your privilege is suspended until the judgment is satisfied.
Handbook p. 23 ↗Know the rule
If you're under 18 and the parent or guardian who signed withdraws responsibility, your license is canceled and you must wait until 18 to get a permit and license. Any driver may also voluntarily surrender a license at a Regional Office.
Handbook p. 23 ↗The point system
| Rule | Detail |
|---|---|
| Hearing/suspension threshold, 18 and older | 12 points within two years |
| Hearing/suspension threshold, under 18 | 7 points within two years |
| Points expire | 2 years from the conviction date |
| Conviction stays on your record | 5 years from the conviction date |
| Before any suspension | A chance to meet with a hearing officer |
Skipping the 12-point hearing
| Accumulation of 12 points | Suspension |
|---|---|
| First | 6 months |
| Second | 1 year |
| Any later one within the two years | 2 years |
Know the rule
After a hearing you may be put on probation instead of suspended and sent to State Traffic School. You can't get probation again until two years after any earlier probation period ended.
Handbook p. 24 ↗State Traffic School rules:
- You must be referred by the Kentucky District or Federal court where the violation occurred
- You can't be under suspension at the time of the citation
- Minor violations only—not convictions that carry mandatory suspension
- Once every 12 months at most; not for non-licensed or out-of-state drivers
- A referral is a court order: skip it and your driving privilege is suspended
Know the rule
Every DUI offender must be assessed by a program certified by the Cabinet for Human Resources (CHR) and complete CHR-approved alcohol education or treatment, paying its fees, before reinstatement.
Handbook p. 24 ↗Put it into practice
You're 17 and your convictions add up to 7 points within two years. Because you're under 18, that's enough for the Transportation Cabinet to hold a hearing on your driving privilege—where you could face suspension, or probation with State Traffic School.