KRS 186.160

No clerk shall receive an application for registration nor register a motor vehicle, unless the motor vehicle bears a motor number or a vehicle identification number. If there is no motor number or vehicle identification number, or if the number is not plainly legible, the owner shall apply through the clerk to the Transportation Cabinet for a motor number or vehicle identification number, and when that number is assigned to the owner's motor vehicle the owner shall cause the number to be stamped on the motor with a steel die or in the space provided by manufacturer for vehicle identification number. That number shall thereafter be used by the owner in making registration or executing a bill of sale.