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FRANKFORT, Ky. (Oct. 1, 2026) — Public nomination meetings to fill three expiring Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Commission district seats will be held in November. A new nomination process is now in place to select candidates for the 2nd, 3rd and 8th district representative’s seats.
The commission is a nine-member board that meets quarterly in Frankfort to help provide oversight of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources and guide development of the state’s regulations on hunting, fishing, boating and conservation. Commission members are nominated at public meetings. The governor selects one nominee from each district to the board, who must then be confirmed by the Kentucky Senate.
Earlier this year, the Kentucky General Assembly amended KRS 150.022, the statute which governs the nomination of individuals for the Fish and Wildlife Commission. The statute now requires that individuals wishing to be nominated must be prequalified by the department by submitting a notarized and completed application, with accompanying documentation, to be received in the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Commissioner’s office at least fifteen (15) days prior to the meeting. Applications may be submitted via email at fw.publicaffairs@ky.gov or delivery to 1 Sportsman’s Lane, Frankfort, KY 40601. The Commission Member Nominee Application can be found on the department’s website (fw.ky.gov) on the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Commission webpage.
To be eligible for nomination, individuals must: 1) be a resident and citizen of their respective district; 2) be either an experienced hunter, angler, trapper or biologist; 3) have held a Kentucky hunting and fishing license for each of the previous five (5) consecutive license years, not including the current license year (note that individuals will only qualify if they held the required licenses, legal participation while license exempt no longer meets the requirements); 4) be well informed on the subject of wildlife conservation and restoration; and 5) not be a convicted felon.
Kentucky Fish and Wildlife staff will review all applications and accompanying documents submitted by the deadline and determine if each individual meets qualification requirements.
Only those individuals who are physically present at the nomination meetings, that have both properly submitted the application materials and have been determined as qualified by the department, may be considered for nomination.
Only resident sportsmen and sportswomen in attendance may participate in the nomination process. To qualify as a sportsman or sportswoman, an individual must be a resident hunter or angler that has held either a Kentucky hunting, trapping, or fishing license in each of the past two (2) consecutive license years, not including the current license year. Note that legal participation while license exempt no longer meets the requirements to qualify as a sportsman or sportswoman.
If more than five candidates are nominated at the meeting, the top five candidates will be selected by vote, by the resident sportsmen and sportswomen in attendance, for consideration by the governor.
The meetings to nominate individuals within each district, who properly applied for consideration and were qualified by the department, will be as follows:
2nd District of the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Commission
2nd District includes Allen, Butler, Daviess, Hancock, Henderson, Hopkins, Logan, McLean, Muhlenberg, Ohio, Simpson, Todd, Union, Warren, and Webster counties.
3rd District of the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Commission
3rd District includes Breckinridge, Bullitt, Jefferson, Meade, Oldham, Shelby, and Spencer counties.
8th District of the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Commission
8th District includes Bath, Bourbon, Boyd, Carter, Elliott, Fleming, Greenup, Lewis, Mason, Menifee, Montgomery, Morgan, Nicholas, Rowan, and Wolfe counties.
The governor will receive the lists of nominees to make an appointment for each district. The Kentucky Senate must then confirm the appointment. The appointees confirmed for the 2nd, 3rd and 8th commission districts will serve for a term ending Dec. 31, 2030.
More information about the board and its role in conservation is available on the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Commission webpage on the department’s website at fw.ky.gov. Users may also search under the keyword “commission.”
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