Kentucky Concealed Carry Permit Fees and Costs

Kentucky Concealed Carry Fees and Costs

Kentucky sets almost every concealed carry dollar amount by statute, so the numbers below are the numbers, not estimates. The license costs $60 on paper or $70 electronically. The training course that qualifies you for it is capped at $75 plus $10 on the state-certified route, and that capped route is open only to applicants 21 and older. Adults 21 and older also have a lawful option that costs nothing.

The zero-cost path: carrying without a license

KRS 237.109 lets anyone 21 or older who can lawfully possess a firearm carry a concealed firearm or other concealed deadly weapon without a license, in the same locations a licensee may carry. No application, no fee, no training requirement. The statute has been in force since June 27, 2019 (2019 Ky. Acts ch. 10, sec. 1). Some KSP pages say June 28, 2019. The statute page controls, and it says June 27.

People still pay for a license. KSP's permitless carry page notes that Kentucky's law does not travel to states that still require one, and that a license assists with dealer purchases. KSP states elsewhere that only a valid CCDW license substitutes for the NICS background check at a dealer.

At 18, 19, or 20 the free path is closed: KRS 237.109 starts at 21, so a license is the only lawful way to carry concealed.

Application and renewal fees

Under KRS 237.110(7), one figure covers an original application and a renewal. The statute calls it an "application fee or renewal fee, as appropriate."

The statute then splits the money four ways (KRS 237.110(7)(b)3., (7)(c)2.).

Tendering the paper fee. KSP wants two payments: $20 to the sheriff, and a $40 check or money order payable to the Kentucky State Treasurer. An application without the $40 instrument is returned unprocessed to the sheriff. KSP collects the AOC portion on its behalf.

Tendering the electronic fee. The Department of Criminal Justice Training describes the online route as $70 paid by card online, split $50 to KSP and $20 to the sheriff. The four-way allocation in KRS 237.110(7)(c)2. controls.

Budget for a photo. DOCJT notes the sheriff's office charges for the photograph on top of the $20 it retains. No statute or published KSP schedule fixes that amount, so ask your sheriff.

Who pays nothing. KRS 237.110(7)(d) exempts two groups from the application and renewal fees: a peace officer currently certified by the Kentucky Law Enforcement Council and authorized to carry concealed statewide under KRS 527.020, and a retired peace officer in one of the Kentucky public retirement systems that paragraph names.

Renewing late, and the point of no return

KRS 237.110(14)(a) has KSP mail an expiration notice and renewal form at least 120 days before expiration. Renewal costs the KRS 237.110(7) fee, $60 paper or $70 electronic.

Miss the expiration date and KRS 237.110(14)(c) adds a late fee of fifteen dollars ($15) on top of the license fees. On the paper track KSP asks for $20 to the sheriff plus a check or money order for $40 to the Kentucky State Treasurer, or $55 to the Treasurer if filed after expiration.

The deadline is hard. No license may be renewed six months or more after expiration; at that point it is permanently expired and the holder reapplies from scratch under KRS 237.110(7), (8), and (9). An expired license is void for every purpose except surrender to the sheriff in exchange for a renewal.

Replacing a lost license

KRS 237.110(12) makes a lost, stolen, or destroyed license automatically invalid. A duplicate costs $15 for a paper request or $25 for an electronic request filed in lieu of paper, paid to KSP with a notarized statement of the loss. KSP routes the paper version through Form KSP 126 at the sheriff's office, check or money order payable to the Kentucky State Treasurer. The notary charge is separate and is not set by this statute.

The provisional license for ages 18 to 20

KRS 237.118 took effect July 15, 2026 (2026 Ky. Acts ch. 173, sec. 1, House Bill 312). It authorizes KSP to issue provisional licenses to applicants who are 18 but younger than 21 and who otherwise meet the KRS 237.110(3) and (4) criteria, notwithstanding the age criterion in KRS 237.110(4)(c). A provisional license runs until the holder turns 21.

The statute is in force, but you cannot apply yet. KSP says it contacted the vendor in early April, the vendor began work on June 15, and the online application portal is expected to be updated this fall and will then begin accepting applications from eligible individuals ages 18 to 20. KSP will announce the launch date.

KRS 237.118 prints no dollar figure for the provisional license itself. Subsection (3)(a) routes everything the section does not cover back to KRS 237.110, where the $60 and $70 figures live. Treat that as the working expectation and confirm it with KSP.

Training costs this age group more. KRS 237.118(2)(b) still requires the KRS 237.110(4) training, but 503 KAR 4:050 Section 4(1) says an applicant training course "shall not be open to persons who are less than twenty-one (21) years of age." The price-capped DOCJT route described below is therefore closed to an 18-to-20-year-old, who has to buy the nationally certified instructor course instead. That course carries no statutory ceiling.

The conversion step is left open. Under KRS 237.118(6)(c)3. the holder files with the sheriff or KSP, states that he or she remains qualified under KRS 237.110(3) and (4), and pays "an application fee prescribed by the Department of Kentucky State Police." No amount is set, and subsection (8) gives KSP regulatory authority to fill it in. Call the KSP CCDW Section.

Two more cost details. A provisional licensee applying for a standard license does not retake the KRS 237.110(4) training, so there is no second course fee. One who waits more than six months after the provisional license expires applies under KRS 237.110 as a new applicant.

Training course costs

Since the July 1, 2025 rewrite (2025 Ky. Acts ch. 59, sec. 7), KRS 237.110(4)(i) accepts training by either of two routes, and only one is price-capped.

Route 1: an instructor certified by a national organization. The statute names the National Rifle Association, the United States Concealed Carry Association, and the National Shooting Sports Foundation, and says the list is not exclusive. No Kentucky statute or regulation sets a price for these courses. The $75 cap below binds a "firearms instructor trainer" or "certified firearms instructor," DOCJT-program titles defined by KRS 237.122(1) to (3) and KRS 237.124(2), so on its face it does not reach a nationally certified instructor teaching outside that program.

Route 2: a course offered or approved by the Department of Criminal Justice Training, taught by a DOCJT-certified firearms instructor or instructor trainer under KRS 237.124. Capped by KRS 237.122(8), and open only to students 21 and older:

So the ceiling a DOCJT-track student can be charged for the course and its range materials is $85. Ammunition sits outside that ceiling.

Two further limits sit in 503 KAR 4:050. An instructor may provide a handgun at a student's request but shall not charge a fee for furnishing it, and may recover only the actual cost of ammunition provided at the student's request. Instructors may not advertise that handguns will be furnished. The DOCJT course involves firing not more than 20 rounds at a full-size silhouette with at least 11 hits.

The training is normally a one-time expense. DOCJT states that a certificate of completion is good for life and that applicants never repeat the course unless they choose to, or unless they received incomplete or insufficient training. A duplicate certificate comes from the DOCJT CCDW program by phone or email at no published charge.

If you want to teach

Two offenses police that money. Telling DOCJT you conducted training you did not provide is not providing firearms training, a Class D felony under KRS 237.126. Reporting training that omitted required lecture, visual aids, hands-on safety work, range firing, or maintenance instruction, or passing a student on a target that missed the required marksmanship, is providing incomplete firearms training, also a Class D felony under KRS 237.128.

Retired peace officer qualification

Under KRS 237.140(4)(c) and (d), a firearms instructor or agency running the annual qualification for retirees may charge each participant not more than $20, covering range, instructor, range personnel, targets, and all other associated costs. It does not cover ammunition, which the retiree supplies. KRS 237.140(1)(b) funds the certification itself from license program money under KRS 15.383.

Temporary permit for a protective order petitioner

A petitioner for an order of protection under KRS 403.715 to 403.785 may apply for a 45-day temporary permit under KRS 403.754. Subsection (3) requires "a completed application, application fee, and any documentation required by KRS 237.110" before the background check, but names no amount. The amount comes through subsection (2), which requires the petitioner to apply electronically in the manner set forth in KRS 237.110, so the electronic fee in KRS 237.110(7)(a)2. is the operative $70. If electronic application is unavailable, these applications are not accepted. The permit cannot be extended or reissued, and converting it to a full license requires completing the KRS 237.110(4) training inside the 45 days.

Money penalties attached to a license

Each of these is a noncriminal violation carrying $25 payable to the District Court clerk, with no court costs.

What local government cannot do

KRS 65.870(1) bars every city, county, urban-county or charter county government, consolidated or unified local government, special district, and local or regional public or quasi-public agency from occupying any part of the field of regulation of the manufacture, sale, purchase, taxation, transfer, ownership, possession, carrying, storage, or transportation of firearms, ammunition, components, or accessories. Subsection (2) declares a contrary ordinance or policy null, void, and unenforceable, and subsection (4) directs a court to award the prevailing party reasonable attorney's fees and costs plus expert witness fees and expenses.

That forecloses a local tax on firearms or on carrying them, so no county can invent its own carry tax. It does not speak in terms of license or application fees, and subsection (7) makes the section inapplicable "where a statute specifically authorizes or directs" a listed agency to regulate a listed subject. Hence the sheriff's photograph charge above is not a preemption problem: the sheriff is filling a role KRS 237.110 assigns.

At a glance

Where to confirm a number before you write the check: KSP CCDW Section, (502) 227-8700, CCDWquestions@ky.gov. DOCJT CCDW Program, (859) 622-2299, ccdwprogram@ky.gov. KSP's published application page has not been updated for the 2025 electronic filing track or the 2026 provisional license, so where it and KRS 237.110 disagree, the statute governs.