Kentucky HOA Open Meeting Laws

Kentucky HOA open meeting laws are not governed by Kentucky’s general Open Meetings Act in the same way as meetings of government agencies. Instead, for planned communities, Kentucky’s 2023 Planned Community Act created specific requirements governing association and board meetings. Under KRS 381.793, board meetings generally must be open to owners unless the bylaws provide otherwise or the board is meeting in an executive session. The law also establishes a default 51% board quorum. KRS 381.792 separately addresses annual and special association meetings, notice, and owner voting.

The important catch is that Kentucky HOA law depends on the type of community and its governing documents. KRS Chapter 381 defines a “planned community” separately from a condominium, and provisions adopted or recorded before June 29, 2023 receive important protection under the statute.

Definition: What Is an Open HOA Meeting?

An open HOA meeting is a meeting of the association’s governing board that eligible homeowners may attend. In Kentucky planned communities covered by KRS 381.793, board meetings are generally open to owners, subject to the statute and the community’s governing documents.

What has the Kentucky HOA Open Meeting Laws?

Kentucky’s HOA meeting rules changed significantly when the Kentucky Planned Community Act took effect on June 29, 2023.

KRS 381.785 through 381.801 establish statutory requirements for planned communities, including rules concerning association meetings, board meetings, financial records, assessments, owner record inspection, and board governance. The Kentucky General Assembly’s current Chapter 381 specifically lists KRS 381.792 for meetings, notice and quorum, and KRS 381.793 for open board meetings.

The key distinction is between association meetings and board meetings.

An association meeting generally involves the membership or lot owners. A board meeting involves the directors who govern the association. Kentucky law establishes different requirements for each.

Does Kentucky Require HOA Board Meetings to Be Open?

For planned communities covered by the Kentucky Planned Community Act, yes, generally.

KRS 381.793(2) states that, unless otherwise specified in the bylaws, board meetings shall be open to the owners except during executive sessions. This gives qualifying homeowners a statutory right to attend board meetings rather than requiring them to rely entirely on the association’s internal policies.

This is one of the most important points for Kentucky homeowners to understand: the state’s general Open Meetings Law applies to public agencies, while the planned-community statute contains a separate open-board-meeting rule for qualifying private planned communities. Kentucky’s Open Meetings Act is found in KRS 61.805 through 61.850 and concerns public agencies.

Are All Kentucky HOA Meetings Open to Homeowners?

No.

The statutory rule specifically addresses board meetings. Membership meetings have their own requirements under KRS 381.792.

In addition, the statute permits board meetings to be closed for executive sessions. Homeowners therefore should not assume that every discussion involving HOA business must occur in front of the entire membership.

What Does KRS 381.793 Require?

KRS 381.793 contains three important provisions.

First, it establishes a default quorum for the board. Unless the bylaws require a larger percentage, 51% of the directors must be present at the beginning of the meeting to establish a quorum.

Second, board meetings are generally open to owners unless the bylaws provide otherwise or the board is meeting in an executive session.

Third, directors of an unincorporated association must perform their duties according to the standards referenced in KRS 273.215 and 273.229.

Meeting issue	Kentucky planned-community rule
Board meeting access	Generally open to owners
Executive session	Permitted under KRS 381.793
Default board quorum	51% of directors
Can bylaws affect the rule?	Yes, the statute expressly references bylaws
Annual association meeting	At least once per year
Association meeting notice	10–30 days
Association meeting quorum	10% of lot owners

The table summarizes statutory requirements under KRS 381.792 and 381.793.

How Much Notice Must a Kentucky HOA Give for a Meeting?

Kentucky’s planned-community statute provides a specific notice period for association meetings.

Under KRS 381.792, notice must be provided to owners at least 10 days and no more than 30 days before the meeting. The notice must identify the meeting’s time and place and state the items on the agenda. Notice can be sent by U.S. mail, hand-delivered, or electronically delivered to each owner.

This requirement is particularly important when homeowners are being asked to vote on an issue.

What About Notice of a Board Meeting?

KRS 381.793 establishes that board meetings are generally open to owners, but it does not prescribe the same 10-to-30-day notice period for board meetings that KRS 381.792 establishes for association meetings.

Therefore, homeowners should examine the bylaws and other governing documents for the association’s board-meeting notice procedure.

This distinction prevents a common mistake: assuming that the 10-to-30-day statutory notice requirement for association meetings automatically applies to every board meeting.

What Is the Quorum for a Kentucky HOA Board Meeting?

For a planned community, the default board quorum is 51% of the directors, unless the bylaws specify a larger percentage. The quorum is determined by the number of directors present at the beginning of the meeting.

For example, if an HOA has seven directors, more than half would be required to reach the statutory default quorum. If the bylaws establish a higher quorum requirement, that higher requirement may apply.

A quorum matters because the board generally needs a valid quorum before conducting official board business.

What Is the Quorum for a Kentucky HOA Membership Meeting?

The rule is different for an association meeting.

KRS 381.792 requires the association’s governing documents to provide for an annual meeting at least once each year and establishes 10% of the lot owners as the quorum for an association meeting.

Special meetings may be called by the president, a majority of the board, or by written request from 20% of the owners, unless the declaration or bylaws specify a lower percentage. When owners properly request a special meeting, the secretary must convene it within 30 days.

This means the quorum for an owner membership meeting should not be confused with the 51% default quorum for the board.

Can a Kentucky HOA Hold an Executive Session?

Yes, KRS 381.793 expressly recognizes executive sessions by providing that board meetings are open to owners except during executive sessions, unless otherwise specified in the bylaws.

An executive session is a closed portion of an otherwise governed board meeting. However, the mere fact that a board wants to discuss a sensitive subject does not necessarily mean that every part of an association’s business can automatically be hidden from owners.

The association should follow its governing documents and applicable law when determining whether a matter should be handled in executive session.

Can Homeowners Attend a Kentucky HOA Board Meeting?

For a qualifying planned community, homeowners generally have the right to attend board meetings under KRS 381.793 unless the bylaws provide otherwise or the board is conducting an executive session.

Attendance, however, is not necessarily the same as unlimited participation.

The statute makes the board meeting open to owners; it does not state that every homeowner has an unrestricted right to control the agenda, debate every issue, or interrupt board business. The association’s bylaws, meeting procedures, and applicable law may determine how owner participation works.

Can Homeowners Speak at Every Board Meeting?

Not necessarily.

An owner should check the HOA’s bylaws, adopted meeting procedures, and any applicable policies to determine whether there is an owner-comment period.

The right to attend an open board meeting should not automatically be interpreted as an unlimited right to speak whenever a homeowner wants.

What Records Can Kentucky HOA Owners Examine?

Meeting transparency also connects to record-access rights.

Under KRS 381.795, an owner of a planned-community lot may examine and copy association books, records, and minutes subject to reasonable standards established in the declaration, bylaws, or rules. The association may establish reasonable procedures concerning the type of records available, copying, time, location, and reasonable copying fees.

Certain categories are excluded unless the board approves access.

These include personnel information, attorney communications and work product related to litigation or certain property matters, confidential negotiations or contracts, specified assessment-collection information, and information whose disclosure is prohibited by state or federal law.

This means an owner who cannot attend a meeting may still have an important avenue for understanding what the association has done by requesting eligible minutes and records.

What Is the Difference Between Kentucky HOA and Government Open Meeting Laws?

This distinction is essential.

Kentucky’s Open Meetings Act applies to public agencies. KRS Chapter 61 establishes the state’s statutory framework for open meetings of government bodies and other public agencies.

A private HOA is not automatically a public agency simply because it provides community services or exercises authority over property.

For qualifying planned communities, the relevant private-association open-meeting requirement comes from KRS 381.793. That provision specifically states that board meetings are open to owners except during executive sessions, subject to the bylaws.

Bottom line: do not automatically use Kentucky’s public-agency Open Meetings Act as the legal standard for a private HOA. First determine whether the community is governed by the Kentucky Planned Community Act and then review the association’s governing documents.

Does the Kentucky Planned Community Act Apply to Older HOAs?

This is where Kentucky HOA law becomes more nuanced.

KRS 381.786 states that planned communities in Kentucky are subject to KRS 381.785 through 381.801. However, it also provides that, unless specifically stated otherwise, the Act does not invalidate provisions in a document governing a planned community if that provision was already in the document when recorded and the document was adopted or recorded before June 29, 2023.

This creates an important distinction between statutory coverage and the treatment of older governing-document provisions.

A homeowner in a long-established community should therefore not assume that every provision of the 2023 law automatically erases a conflicting provision in older governing documents.

Why Does the June 29, 2023 Date Matter?

The Kentucky Planned Community Act became effective June 29, 2023.

The statute specifically protects certain pre-existing provisions from being invalidated. As a result, determining whether a particular open-meeting dispute is governed solely by the statutory language may require reviewing when the HOA’s declaration, bylaws, or other relevant documents were adopted or recorded.

For legal disputes, the actual documents and their recording dates matter.

What Is a Kentucky Planned Community?

KRS 381.785 defines a planned community as a group of residential dwellings, excluding condominiums, consisting of individual lots where the deed, common plan, or declaration requires an association membership, provides for common property or facilities, or requires owners to support common property or facilities through membership fees.

The definition specifically excludes condominiums.

That distinction is important because Kentucky has separate statutory provisions governing condominiums. A homeowner should identify whether the property is legally part of a planned community or condominium before relying on a specific meeting rule.

What Should You Do If Your Kentucky HOA Violates Open Meeting Rules?

If you believe your HOA improperly closed a board meeting or prevented owners from attending, avoid relying only on verbal complaints.

Create a written record.

1. Identify the type of meeting. Determine whether it was a board meeting, annual membership meeting, special meeting, committee meeting, or executive session.
2. Review the governing documents. Read the declaration, bylaws, and association rules concerning meetings.
3. Check the applicable statute. For planned communities, review KRS 381.792 and KRS 381.793.
4. Document the alleged violation. Keep notices, emails, meeting announcements, minutes, and correspondence.
5. Request relevant records. KRS 381.795 provides an owner examination right for covered planned communities, subject to its exceptions.
6. Send a written request to the board. Explain the issue and identify the specific statutory or governing-document provision involved.
7. Seek legal advice when necessary. A Kentucky attorney can evaluate whether a particular board action violated the statute, bylaws, declaration, or another legal requirement.

The strongest homeowner challenge is usually based on the specific rule, document, meeting type, and facts, rather than a general claim that “HOA meetings must always be public.”

Can an HOA Make Decisions Outside a Board Meeting?

Homeowners should distinguish between informal discussions and official board action.

The governing documents and applicable corporate law can affect how directors conduct business and whether a particular action is valid. Kentucky’s nonprofit corporation statutes also contain separate rules concerning meetings and board action.

For example, KRS 273.223 provides default rules for notice of nonprofit corporation board meetings when the bylaws are silent, including at least two days’ notice, although the bylaws can prescribe the applicable notice.

That statute can become relevant depending on how the HOA is organized and which legal framework governs its actions.

Because Kentucky HOA structures vary, homeowners should not assume that every association has identical meeting procedures.

Kentucky HOA Open Meeting Checklist

If you are trying to determine whether your HOA complied with Kentucky meeting requirements, use this checklist:

Question	What to check
Is the community a planned community?	KRS 381.785 definition
Is it a condominium?	Different statutory framework may apply
When were the governing documents adopted/recorded?	Pre- or post-June 29, 2023
Was it a board or membership meeting?	Different rules apply
Was the meeting open to owners?	KRS 381.793
Was there an executive session?	Check statutory/document authority
Was there a quorum?	51% default for board; 10% for association meeting
Was proper notice provided?	Check KRS 381.792 and governing documents
Were minutes or records requested?	Review KRS 381.795
Does the governing document contain a different rule?	Review declaration/bylaws carefully

Why Kentucky HOA Open Meeting Laws Matter

Open board meetings give homeowners an opportunity to observe how their association is governed.

This matter because HOA boards routinely make decisions involving assessments, maintenance, contracts, community rules, budgets, enforcement, and other issues affecting property owners.

Transparency does not mean every discussion must be public or that homeowners can direct board decisions. Instead, the purpose of an open-meeting requirement is to establish a framework in which owners can observe covered board business and understand how the association is being managed.

Kentucky’s 2023 Planned Community Act provides a statutory foundation for that transparency in qualifying planned communities through KRS 381.793.

Frequently Asked Questions About Kentucky HOA Open Meeting Laws