⚠️This fact has been debunked
This is a widely circulated urban legend with no basis in Kentucky law. No such statute exists in the Kentucky Revised Statutes or city ordinances. While frequently repeated on 'weird laws' lists, no credible legal source can cite an actual KRS number, and legal professionals who have searched Kentucky's legal code confirm this law does not exist and likely never did.
In Kentucky, it is illegal to carry ice-cream in your back pocket.
The Kentucky Ice Cream Pocket Law Is Completely Fake
You've probably seen this one floating around the internet: "In Kentucky, it's illegal to carry an ice cream cone in your back pocket." It shows up on every clickbait list of America's weirdest laws, usually alongside claims about walking backwards while eating donuts or tying giraffes to telephone poles.
Here's the truth: This law doesn't exist. It never has.
We Actually Checked Kentucky's Legal Code
Unlike the viral listicles that keep recycling this claim, we did something radical—we looked at Kentucky's actual laws. The Kentucky Revised Statutes contain the state's entire legal code, searchable and publicly available. There's no statute about ice cream. No ordinance about back pockets. Nothing.
Legal professionals who've dug through Kentucky case law confirm it: this is pure fiction. Real weird Kentucky laws (yes, they exist) come with actual statute numbers. KRS 436.140 really does restrict highway advertising. KRS 437.060 actually addresses reptile handling in religious services. But the ice cream cone law? Zero citations. Ever.
The Horse Theft Story Doesn't Hold Up Either
The myth usually comes with a charming origin story: Back in the Wild West days, sneaky horse thieves would stick ice cream cones in their pockets to lure horses away. If the horse followed them home, they couldn't be charged with theft—the horse came willingly!
It's a delightful tale. It's also nonsense. Horse theft laws focused on intent and ownership, not whether the animal was craving dessert. Plus, ice cream cones weren't even invented until 1904 at the St. Louis World's Fair—long after the frontier era supposedly needed this legislation.
Why Does Everyone Believe It?
This myth has serious staying power. It appears in books, comedy sketches, social media posts, and even some news articles. The reason? It follows the perfect formula for viral misinformation:
- Specific enough to sound real (Kentucky! Ice cream! Back pockets!)
- Weird enough to be memorable and shareable
- Innocent enough that nobody bothers fact-checking it
- Old enough that people assume someone verified it decades ago
Once a few websites published it, others copied and pasted without verification. Now it's internet gospel, repeated by people who would never dream of checking the actual statute books.
The Real Weird Kentucky Laws
Kentucky does have some genuinely odd legislation on the books. You can't dye a duckling blue and sell it unless you're selling at least six at once. Throwing eggs at a public speaker can land you in jail. And technically, every Kentucky citizen is supposed to take a bath at least once a year (KRS 436.140, if you're curious).
But the ice cream cone law? That one's 100% fantasy. Next time someone brings it up at trivia night, you can confidently call them out—and maybe offer them an ice cream cone from your back pocket while you're at it. In Kentucky, it's perfectly legal.