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KRS 506.010

Criminal attempt

Applied in 63 court decisions — leading case State v. Sanchez (1993)

Most recently applied in Commonwealth v. Helm (March 2018)

Effective: July 15, 2024 History: Amended 2024 Ky

How often courts cite this section

19771980199020002010201840
citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

(1) A person is guilty of criminal attempt to commit a crime when, acting with the kind of culpability otherwise required for commission of the crime, he or she:

(a) Intentionally engages in conduct which would constitute the crime if the attendant circumstances were as he or she believes them to be; or (b) Intentionally does or omits to do anything which, under the circumstances as he or she believes them to be, is a substantial step in a course of conduct planned to culminate in his commission of the crime.

(2) Conduct shall not be held to constitute a substantial step under subsection (1)(b) of this section unless it is an act or omission which leaves no reasonable doubt as to the defendant's intention to commit the crime which he or she is charged with attempting.

(3) A person is guilty of criminal attempt to commit a crime when he engages in conduct intended to aid another person to commit that crime, although the crime is not committed or attempted by the other person, provided that his or her conduct would establish complicity under KRS 502.020 if the crime were committed by the other person.

(4) A criminal attempt is a:

(a) Class C felony when the crime attempted is a violation of KRS 521.020 or 521.050;

(b) Class B felony when the crime attempted is a Class A felony or capital offense;

(c) Class C felony when the crime attempted is a Class B felony;

(d) Class A misdemeanor when the crime attempted is a Class C or D felony; or (e) Class B misdemeanor when the crime attempted is a misdemeanor.

(5) Notwithstanding KRS Chapter 532, a person who has been convicted of, or entered a plea of guilty or nolo contendere to, criminal attempt to commit murder of a first responder shall be sentenced to imprisonment for:

(a) At least twenty (20) years;

(b) Life; or (c) Life without benefit of probation or parole until the person has served a minimum of twenty-five (25) years.

Official source: Kentucky General Assembly. Reproduced from public-domain Kentucky statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.