Senate Bill 66 Creates Significant Changes to Kentucky's DUI Laws
Senate Bill 66 removes urine from as an acceptable evidentiary test in DUI cases, adds additional per se drugs to the list of prohibited substances, and corrects language regarding the implied consent warning.
Beginning July 15, 2026, Kentucky’s Senate Bill 66 makes several significant changes to the Commonwealth’s DUI laws. The legislation removes urine testing as an authorized evidentiary test under Kentucky’s implied consent law, leaving breath and blood testing as the approved methods for chemical analysis. The law also requires officers to provide specific advisements regarding preliminary breath tests and the consequences of refusing evidentiary testing. Furthermore, the bill incorporates changes to the language of the implied consent provision under KRS 189A.105 to comply with the Kentucky Supreme Court's ruling in the McCarthy case and permits an offender's driver's license to be pretrial suspended for a blood test refusal. SB 66 further expands Kentucky’s per se drugged-driving provisions by adding clonazepam, cyclobenzaprine, and fentanyl to the list of substances that may support a DUI charge when present in a driver’s system. These changes substantially modify Kentucky’s implied consent procedures and the prosecution of impaired-driving cases statewide.
