FRANKFORT, Ky. (WMDJ) — Kentucky prosecutors and law enforcement have new guidance for handling domestic violence and stalking cases following the release of the state’s updated 2026 Domestic and Interpersonal Violence Prosecution Manual.

Among the changes highlighted by the Attorney General’s Office is Kentucky’s new stalking law, which makes stalking a felony and expands the offense to include indirect conduct carried out electronically, including through social media. The law defines stalking as a course of conduct that seriously alarms, intimidates or harasses another person and causes substantial mental distress.

The updated manual also says a stalking conviction can automatically serve as an application for an interpersonal protective order unless the victim requests otherwise. That order can remain in effect for up to 10 years.

The manual also urges prosecutors to build domestic violence cases using available evidence rather than dismissing a case solely because a victim later asks that charges be dropped.

State officials said law enforcement responded to nearly 34,000 domestic and dating violence incidents in Kentucky during 2025.

To read the full 2026 Domestic and Interpersonal Violence Prosecution Manual you may click here.