Kentucky League of Cities

The Kentucky General Assembly, in 2014, created an entirely new classification system for Kentucky cities. The new laws were intended to eliminate a number of arbitrary distinctions between city governments that were created prior to the granting of home rule authority to cities.

The new classification system creates two classifications of cities based on the form of government. Cities of the first class have a mayor-alderman form of government. Cities of the home rule class have mayor-council, commission, or a city manager form of government.

There are a small number of statutes that still have distinctions based on population. Please consult the City Officials Legal Handbook for these specific distinctions.