Kentucky requires 60 hours of supervised driving, including at least 10 hours at night, before a teen can take the road test for an intermediate license. The permit has to be held for at least 180 days. Sixty hours puts Kentucky in the top handful of states by total required hours. A parent or guardian documents and signs off on the practice. Note that Kentucky driver licensing moved from Circuit Court Clerk offices to Transportation Cabinet regional licensing offices, so older instructions you find online may send you to the wrong building.
Kentucky supervised driving requirements at a glance
| Requirement | Kentucky |
|---|---|
| Total supervised hours | 60 hours |
| Night hours | 10 hours at night (of the 60) |
| Professional / instructor hours | None required by the state; driver education is required for teens who accumulate points or are court-ordered |
| Minimum permit age | 16 (learner's permit) |
| Permit holding period | 180 days on the permit before the road test |
| Permit validity | Kentucky learner's permits are commonly issued for a 1-year term — check the expiration on yours |
| Who may supervise | Licensed driver 21 or older, in the front passenger seat |
| Official log form | Kentucky requires documentation of the 60 hours signed by a parent or guardian, presented at the road test. Get the current form from a regional driver licensing office. |
| Certification method | Parent or guardian signs the practice driving documentation |
| State app or program | None. Kentucky does not publish an official hour-logging app. |
Who can supervise practice driving in Kentucky
The supervision rule is standard; the location of the office is the part that has changed recently.
- A licensed driver at least 21 years old in the front passenger seat.
- A licensed driving instructor qualifies during a lesson.
- Go to a Transportation Cabinet regional driver licensing office, not the county Circuit Court Clerk. Licensing moved, and out-of-date guides still point at the courthouse.
Night hours, and what "night" means here
Ten of the 60 hours have to be at night. Kentucky's permit carries a midnight-to-6-AM restriction, so night practice happens in the evening, which is where it should happen anyway. The Transportation Cabinet does not publish a clock definition, so read night as actual darkness. In Louisville and Lexington, it is fully dark by about 6 PM from November through February — that is the window. What is worth seeking out in Kentucky specifically: unlit two-lane roads with hills and blind curves, where headlights come over a rise with no warning. Ten hours on lit city streets does not prepare anyone for that.
What counts as a loggable hour
- Public-road driving with a qualified supervisor counts. The trip to school, errands, highway miles, practice loops around the neighborhood — it all counts as long as the permit holder is at the wheel and the supervising driver is in the front passenger seat.
- Time parked, idling, or waiting in a drive-through does not count. Log driving time, not trip time.
- Empty parking lots and closed courses generally do not count. The point of the requirement is real traffic.
- Hours before the permit was issued do not count. The permit has to be in hand first.
- Sixty hours is a lot — log it as you go. Kentucky's total is 20 percent higher than the national norm, and reconstructing 60 hours from memory in month six is not a task anyone finishes honestly.
How to actually get to 60 hours
Sixty hours over the 180-day permit period works out to about two and a half hours a week. That is more than most states ask and it does require a routine: the school run each morning, one errand a week, one longer weekend drive. Families who wait until month four to get serious end up cramming, and cramming produces highway miles rather than the varied practice the road test actually checks.
Official Kentucky resources
- Kentucky Transportation Cabinet — Graduated Licensing — permit, intermediate, and full license steps with the 60-hour requirement
- Kentucky Driver Manual — the handbook the permit test is written from
Tracking your hours
Kentucky asks for signed documentation of the 60 hours at the road test, so the record needs to be something a parent can sign and an examiner can read.
PermitReady is a free iPhone and iPad app that does two things: practice questions for the Kentucky driver licensing permit test, and a supervised driving hours log. Each drive is one entry — date, duration, and condition tags including night, highway, rain, and heavy traffic — with a running total at the top so you always know how far you have left to go. Entries can be backdated, so a log you started late can still be complete. It works offline, and there is no account to create: nothing is uploaded, and the log lives on the phone.
Honest limits: PermitReady does not detect drives automatically, does not use GPS, is iPhone and iPad only, and does not generate a signed state affidavit. It is a record you copy from when you fill in Kentucky's practice driving documentation. If you would rather have automatic drive detection or an Android app, RoadReady has both — we compare them directly in PermitReady vs RoadReady. There is also a full write-up of the driving log and a set of printable paper templates if you would rather keep it on paper.
Frequently asked questions
How many supervised driving hours does Kentucky require?
60 hours, including at least 10 at night, before the road test for an intermediate license. That is one of the higher totals in the country.
How long do you have to hold a Kentucky permit?
180 days before taking the road test. The permit also carries a midnight to 6 AM driving restriction.
How many night hours does Kentucky require?
10 of the 60. Treat night as actual darkness between sunset and sunrise, and get some of those hours on unlit rural two-lanes rather than only in town.
Where do you go for a Kentucky driver's license now?
Kentucky driver licensing moved from Circuit Court Clerk offices to Transportation Cabinet regional driver licensing offices. Older online guides still point at the courthouse, which is no longer correct.
Does Kentucky have an official driving log form?
Kentucky requires documentation of the 60 hours signed by a parent or guardian and presented at the road test. Get the current form from a regional driver licensing office.
Also for Kentucky
Kentucky permit test practice · Supervised driving hours log · Printable log templates · Supervised driving hours by state
Verification and disclaimers
Requirements verified August 2026 against Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, Graduated Licensing. Requirements change, and the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet can revise them without much notice — always confirm the current rules with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet before your road test.
PermitReady's driving hours log is a personal tracking tool. It is not a state form and has not been approved or endorsed by any state licensing agency. Check with your state's DMV, RMV, DPS, BMV, or equivalent agency for which log format they require, and use their official state form if one is mandated.
RoadReady® is a registered trademark of Safe Roads Alliance, Inc. PermitReady is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Safe Roads Alliance, Inc.
PermitReady is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or approved by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet or any government agency.