Kentucky · KY · Time & calendar
Kentucky: Does the state observe daylight saving time?
Observes DST
Kentucky observes daylight saving time and has not enacted a law to change that.
Federal law puts a state on daylight saving time unless it passes a law opting out, and federal sources list only Hawaii and Arizona as states that opt out. No Kentucky statute on daylight saving time was found, so it follows the federal default. Its House adopted a 2022 resolution urging Congress to make daylight saving time permanent, but a resolution is not a law. Kentucky is split between Eastern and Central time.
What the law says
DST is not observed in Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and the state of Arizona (with the exception of the Navajo Indian Reservation, which does observe DST).
Sources
- NIST: Daylight Saving Time Official · nist.gov
- KRS Chapter 2 (Citizenship, Emblems, Holidays, and Time) Official · apps.legislature.ky.gov
- 15 U.S.C. ยง 260a (Uniform Time Act) Mirror of official text · law.cornell.edu
- NCSL: Daylight Saving Time State Legislation Secondary · ncsl.org
- U.S. Department of Transportation: Daylight Saving Time Official · transportation.gov
- 49 CFR 71.5 (Eastern/Central boundary, Cornell LII) Mirror of official text · law.cornell.edu
Confirm with the state
- Agency
- Kentucky Legislative Research Commission
- Phone
- 502-564-8100
- Website
- legislature.ky.gov
How bordering states compare
- Illinois Observes DSTIllinois observes daylight saving time and has not enacted a law to change that.
- Indiana Observes DSTIndiana observes daylight saving time statewide and has not enacted a law to change that.
- Missouri Observes DSTMissouri observes daylight saving time; no law to change that has been enacted, though the House passed a trigger bill in 2026.
- Ohio Observes DSTOhio observes daylight saving time and has not enacted a law to change it.
- Tennessee Observes DST, law to go year-roundTennessee observes daylight saving time and has a 2019 law to stay on it all year once Congress allows it.
- Virginia Observes DSTVirginia observes daylight saving time under federal law and has not enacted a law to change that.
- West Virginia Observes DSTWest Virginia observes daylight saving time by statute and has not passed a law to change that.