(1) The rules adopted by orders of the Court of Appeals dated December 19, 1952 and February 6, 1953 shall take effect on July 1, 1953. Amendments to these rules shall become effective when so designated by the Supreme Court.
Rule 86.Effective date.
Current through June 18, 2026 · Last verified July 9, 2026
In one sentenceRule 86 fixes July 1, 1953 as the effective date of the original Rules of Civil Procedure, provides that later amendments take effect when the Supreme Court designates, and applies the rules to pending and future actions unless doing so would be infeasible or unjust.
Full Text of Rule 86
(2) The original rules and any amendments thereto govern all proceedings in actions brought after they take effect and also further proceedings in actions then pending, except to the extent that in the opinion of the proper court, expressed by its order, their application in a particular action pending when the original rules or amendments thereto take effect would not be feasible, or would work injustice, in which event the procedure existing at the time the action was brought applies.
Amendment History
(Amended effective July 1, 1976.)
Plain-English Summary
Rule 86 sets the starting line for the Rules of Civil Procedure. The original rules, adopted by the Court of Appeals in late 1952 and early 1953, took effect on July 1, 1953. Any amendment since then becomes effective on whatever date the Supreme Court designates when it adopts the change.
The rule also answers a practical question: what happens to a lawsuit already underway when a new rule or amendment takes effect? The default answer is that the new rules apply, both to actions filed after the effective date and to further steps in cases already pending. That default has one exception: if the court handling a pending case decides, by its own order, that applying the new rule would not work or would cause injustice in that particular action, the procedure in place when the case was filed continues to apply instead.
Frequently Asked Questions
When did the Kentucky Rules of Civil Procedure take effect?
Rule 86 states that the original rules, adopted by orders of the Court of Appeals dated December 19, 1952 and February 6, 1953, took effect on July 1, 1953.
Do new amendments to the rules apply to a case that is already pending?
Generally yes. Rule 86 provides that amendments govern further proceedings in pending actions, along with actions filed afterward, unless the court finds that applying the amendment to that pending action would not be feasible or would work injustice.
Can a court use the old procedure instead of a new amendment?
Rule 86 allows this only when the court, by its own order, finds that applying the new rule or amendment to a particular pending action would not be feasible or would work injustice. In that event, the procedure in place when the action was brought applies instead.
Source & verification. The rule text is reproduced verbatim from the
official Kentucky Rules of Civil Procedure (Ky. R. Civ. P. 86). Prescribed by the Supreme Court of Kentucky (Ky. Const. § 116). The plain-English summary is original and written by us. Last verified July 9, 2026. ·
Official source
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