Kentucky Payment Bond Claim — No Statutory Bond Notice, a 60-Day Lien on Public Funds, and a 30-Day Suit Trap (KRS 45A.190, 376.210-376.250, 2026)
✓ Verified against Kentucky statutes · Reviewed October 2026 · By Michael Evan — Founder · 50 states · 799 rules
Kentucky mechanics lien deadlines at a glance
Preliminary Notice
75-120 days — Intent to file notice
Mechanics Lien
6 months — From last date of furnishing
Enforcement
1 year — From filing
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Two Remedies on Every Kentucky Public Job
On a private Kentucky job, an unpaid sub or supplier sends a notice of intent and then files a lien statement with the county clerk within six months of its last work. The Kentucky notice of intent guide covers that process. A Louisville school, a Lexington water project, a KYTC bridge or a state building in Frankfort runs on different rules. Public land cannot be liened. Kentucky gives the unpaid claimant two places to look instead. The first is the payment bond the Model Procurement Code requires the prime to post. The second is a statutory lien on the money the public owner still owes the prime, under KRS 376.210 to 376.250. Most states rely on the bond alone. Kentucky’s bond statute is thin, and its lien on funds is detailed, fast and unforgiving. The Mechanics Lien Management Method treats a Kentucky public job as a two-track file . The bond form goes in the file in the first month, so you know what its claim conditions say. The lien on funds is calendared from the end of every month you furnish. And counsel is lined up before the lien is filed, because the suit window after a protest is only 30 days.
The Bond: 100 Percent Over $100,000, With No Statutory Claim Procedure
For Commonwealth contracts, KRS 45A.190(2) requires a performance bond and a payment bond whenever a construction contract is awarded in an amount over $100,000. The payment bond must be executed by a surety authorized to do business in Kentucky, or otherwise supplied to the Commonwealth’s satisfaction. It must equal 100 percent of the original contract price , and it protects all persons supplying labor and material to the contractor or its subcontractors . KRS 45A.435(1) imposes the same bonds, at the same threshold and amount, on local public agencies that have adopted the local Model Procurement Code. That is where the statute stops. Neither section says who must give notice, to whom, or by when, and neither sets a deadline to sue on the bond. Those terms come from the bond itself. Surety payment bond forms commonly impose their own written-notice conditions and their own time limit on suit, and a claimant is held to what its bond says. The practical rule is simple: ask the public owner for a copy of the payment bond as soon as a payment is late , and calendar its notice and suit conditions the day it arrives. If the bond form’s terms are unclear, have a Kentucky construction attorney read them before the first deadline the form might set.
The Lien on Public Funds: KRS 376.210 and 376.230
The lien belongs to anyone who performs labor or furnishes materials or supplies for a public improvement, whether by contract with the owner or by subcontract under it. KRS 376.230(1) dissolves it unless the claimant files a statement, whichever is later : The statement must be in writing and verified by affidavit of the claimant or its authorized agent or attorney. It must set out: Count the 60 days conservatively. The statute speaks of the month in which any labor or materials were furnished, and the substantial completion date is a fact the public owner controls and may not document. The safe practice is to file within 60 days after the end of the earliest unpaid month rather than waiting on a completion date you cannot prove. Kentucky also allows an early statement . Under KRS 376.210(2), a person who expects to furnish labor, materials or supplies may file a statement that it has undertaken to furnish them and at what price. The lien for everything furnished afterward relates back to that filing date. On a long job with a shaky prime, that early filing is cheap insurance.
Filing, Delivering and Mailing: Perfecting the Lien
On public property owned by the Commonwealth or a local government, KRS 376.230(2) requires the statement to be filed only in the county clerk’s office of the county where the owner’s seat of government is located . A county road job is filed in that county. A city project is filed in the city’s county. A Commonwealth project is filed where the state government sits, which is not necessarily where the work is. The clerk’s fees are set under KRS 64.012, and the claimant can recover them as costs out of the fund. Filing alone does not reach the money. Under KRS 376.240, the claimant perfects the lien by doing three things: Speed matters for two reasons. Under KRS 376.210(3), the lien attaches only to the unpaid balance due the contractor, from the time the attested copy is delivered to the owner or its contracting agent. And a perfected lien is superior to any lien perfected afterward on that balance. On a job with several unpaid subs and a shrinking contract balance, the first claimant to deliver a complete package is in the best position.
Withholding, Protest and the 30-Day Suit Trap
Once the authority receives the attested copy and the mailing proof, KRS 376.250(1) requires it to endorse the date received, file the copy, and withhold the lien amount plus the clerk’s fee from what it then owes the contractor, or from the next payments if not enough is due. The contractor then has 30 days from delivery to file a written protest disputing the amount or the fund’s liability. If it does not, the authority pays the withheld money to the claimant and charges it to the contractor’s account. That payment releases the authority from the contractor’s claim for the same amount. For an uncontested balance, this is one of the fastest collection routes in any state. If the contractor protests, the authority notifies the claimant by certified mail and holds the money until the contractor authorizes payment or a court orders it. Then the trap closes. Under KRS 376.250(4), unless the claimant files suit to enforce the lien and has summons served on the public authority or its chairman within 30 days after the protest notice is mailed , the lien is automatically released and the funds go to the contractor. The 30 days run from mailing, not receipt, and service on the authority is part of the deadline.
Every Kentucky Public-Project Claim Deadline in One Table
The Mechanics Lien Management State System calendars the 60-day public lien date from the end of each month you furnish, and the 30-day suit date from a protest notice. Private-work rules are on the Kentucky lien statutes page, with the calculator on the Kentucky mechanics lien hub . The last row covers federal prime contracts in Kentucky, such as Fort Campbell, Fort Knox and the Blue Grass Army Depot. Those run under the federal Miller Act , where only a second-tier claimant gives notice, within 90 days of its last work, and suit is due within one year. No KRS 376.210 lien reaches federal funds.
File the Lien on Funds and Track the Protest Date
Kentucky Public Works Workflow Prepare the KRS 376.230 sworn statement with the amount, the last-furnished date and the improvement name. Then calendar the 60-day filing date, the 30-day protest window and the 30-day suit-and-service deadline. Pair it with these resources: Before the lien is filed, connect with a Kentucky construction attorney through the Mechanics Lien Management network, or request a formal attorney review . A protest leaves no time to start that search.
Sixty Days to File, Thirty Days to Sue
The Mechanics Lien Management deadline calculator tracks the 60-day lien on public funds and the 30-day protest and suit windows for every Kentucky public job. Miss the deadline and you lose your lien rights entirely.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the deadline for a Kentucky payment bond claim?
Kentucky's bond statutes do not set one. KRS 45A.190 (Commonwealth contracts) and KRS 45A.435 (local public agencies) require a payment bond of 100 percent of the original contract price on construction contracts over $100,000, but neither section contains a claimant notice requirement or a suit limitation. Any notice and suit deadlines come from the bond form itself, so get a copy of the bond and read its claim conditions. The firm statutory deadline on Kentucky public work belongs to the separate lien on public funds: 60 days after the last day of the month of furnishing, or by substantial completion if later, under KRS 376.230(1).
Can you file a mechanics lien on a Kentucky public project?
Not on the property, but on the money. Under KRS 376.210(1), a person who performs labor or furnishes materials or supplies for a public improvement, by contract with the owner or by subcontract, has a lien. When the property is owned by the Commonwealth, one of its subdivisions or agencies, or a city, county, urban-county or charter county government, the lien is on the funds due the contractor from the owner, not on the land.
Where do you file a Kentucky lien on public funds?
In the county clerk's office of the county where the owner's seat of government is located, and only there, under KRS 376.230(2). For a city or county project that is that local government's home county. Then, under KRS 376.240, deliver an attested copy to the public authority that made the contract. Also file with that authority a signed copy of a letter to the contractor or subcontractor, along with the post office receipt showing you sent it an attested copy by certified mail, return receipt requested, or registered mail.
What does the Kentucky public lien statement have to say?
Under KRS 376.230(1), the statement must be in writing and verified by affidavit of the claimant or its authorized agent or attorney. It must set out the amount due for which the lien is claimed, the date labor, materials or supplies were last furnished, and the name of the public improvement. Overstating it carries risk: under KRS 376.220(3), a person who files a statement for more than is actually due is liable to anyone damaged by it.
What happens after the public authority gets the lien statement?
Under KRS 376.250(1), the authority endorses the date received and withholds the lien amount, plus the county clerk's fee, from what it then owes the contractor or from the next payments. If the contractor does not file a written protest within 30 days of delivery, the authority pays the withheld amount to the claimant and charges it to the contractor. If the contractor protests, the authority notifies the claimant by certified mail and holds the money until the contractor authorizes payment or a court orders it.
How long do you have to sue if the contractor protests a Kentucky public lien?
Thirty days. Under KRS 376.250(4), if suit to enforce the lien is not filed, and summons in it served on the public authority or its chairman, within 30 days after the written notice of protest is mailed to the claimant, the lien is automatically released and the withheld funds are paid to the contractor. The clock runs from mailing, not receipt, and service on the public authority is part of the requirement.
Does the Kentucky public lien reach money already paid to the contractor?
No. Under KRS 376.210(3), the lien attaches only to any unpaid balance due the contractor, and only from the time an attested copy of the statement is delivered to the owner or its contracting agent. Money the public owner releases to the prime before that delivery is gone. Once perfected under KRS 376.240, the lien is superior to any lien perfected later on the same balance, so the order of filing matters.