⚠️This fact has been debunked
No verifiable KRS statute exists. Appears to be an urban legend that has circulated since at least 2003. No sources cite actual statute numbers.
A widely circulated claim states that Kentucky law requires citizens to bathe at least once a year, but no such law exists in the Kentucky Revised Statutes.
Kentucky's Fake Bathing Law: An Urban Legend Debunked
You've probably seen it on a "weird laws" list somewhere online: Kentucky supposedly requires every citizen to bathe at least once a year. It sounds just ridiculous enough to be true, right? The kind of dusty old law that never got repealed because, well, who's enforcing it?
Here's the thing: this law doesn't exist. And it never did.
The Search for Proof
Unlike other Kentucky laws that show up on these lists—like KRS 437.060, which genuinely regulates the handling of reptiles in religious ceremonies, or the now-repealed KRS 436.140 about women in bathing suits—the bathing law has a conspicuous problem: no one can cite an actual statute number.
Search the Kentucky Revised Statutes database all you want. You'll find regulations about public swimming pools and commercial bathing facilities, but nothing about mandatory personal hygiene frequency. Zero. Zilch. Nada.
How Fake Laws Spread
This claim has been circulating since at least 2003, when it appeared in various media outlets and "weird laws" compilations. It's been repeated so many times across so many websites that it's achieved a kind of false legitimacy through sheer repetition.
But repetition doesn't equal truth. As the Minnesota State Law Library notes in their "Loony Laws" page, these purported laws are "almost never cited to their source," making verification extremely difficult—or in this case, impossible.
The problem with "dumb laws" lists is threefold:
- Misrepresentation: Real laws get taken wildly out of context
- Outdated information: Laws that were repealed decades ago still circulate as current
- Complete fabrication: Some are simply made up, possibly as copyright traps or jokes that got out of hand
Why We Believe Them
These fake laws persist because they're just plausible enough. Kentucky in the 19th century? Sure, maybe public health officials pushed for bathing standards. Once a year sounds absurdly low by modern standards but maybe appropriate for frontier life, right?
That plausibility is precisely what makes them effective urban legends. They confirm our assumptions about how weird old laws are, and they're entertaining enough to share without fact-checking.
The Real Takeaway
Next time you see a "weird law" claim, ask for the statute number. Real laws have citations. Urban legends have question marks.
And yes, Kentuckians are free to bathe—or not bathe—as often as they please, without government interference. The state has enough real issues to deal with without monitoring shower schedules.