How to calculate fee waiver & indigency screener in Kentucky

Quick takeaways

• In Kentucky, the core “poor person” test for fee-related eligibility comes from KRS § 453.190(2). It turns on either (1) income at or below 100% on the Kentucky sliding scale of indigency or (2) inability to pay costs/fees without depriving yourself or your dependents.
• DocketMath’s fee waiver & indigency screener (US-KY) is built to help you translate that standard into a consistent, repeatable workflow.
• This article uses the default/general rule because the brief did not identify a claim-type-specific indigency period in Kentucky. In other words: use this general/default approach unless a specific court order, local rule, or docket instruction tells you otherwise.
• Your inputs matter: small changes—especially around household size or income timing/frequency—can affect whether you land at/under 100%.

Inputs you need

Before you run DocketMath’s screener, collect the data you’ll need to support both parts of the statutory “poor person” definition: income level and inability-to-pay context.

Use this checklist:

• Household size (number of people supported by the applicant)
• Gross income for the relevant time window (wages, self-employment, benefits, etc.)
• Income frequency (weekly, biweekly, monthly, etc.)
• Other income sources (child support received, disability, unemployment, retirement, etc.)
• Income you can document (keep notes or pay stubs ready if asked)
• Costs/fees context you’re facing (so the “unable to pay without depriving dependents” prong can be evaluated using the screener’s fields)
• Regular household deductions/expenses if DocketMath prompts for them (optional—depends on how you track income, but fill relevant fields when available)

KY legal standard your inputs should map to

Kentucky’s statutory definition is the backbone:

• A “poor person” is someone who has income at or below one hundred percent (100) on the sliding scale of indigency established by the Kentucky Supreme Court by rule, or
• who is unable to pay the costs and fees of the proceeding without depriving himself or his dependents.

This is stated in KRS § 453.190(2). Source:
https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=46760

The brief-provided excerpt includes: “A ‘poor person’ means a person who has an income at or below one hundred percent (100) on the sliding scale of indigency established by the Supreme Court of Kentucky by rule or is unable to pay the costs and fees of the proceeding in which he is involved without depriving himself or his dependents o…”

How the calculation works

DocketMath’s fee waiver & indigency calculator for US-KY is effectively a two-part screener aligned with KRS § 453.190(2):

1. Income-based screen (income at/under the “100% on the sliding scale of indigency” threshold)
2. Inability-to-pay screen (“unable to pay costs and fees…without depriving…dependents”)

Step 1: Enter your income consistently (including frequency)

Even before you compare to any threshold, consistency matters.

• If your income is weekly or biweekly, make sure you enter it using the frequency field (so the screener can standardize it).
• Use gross income unless the screener field specifically asks for net.

Why it matters: If you enter an amount under the wrong time frame, your calculated percentage may move above or below the “100%” line.

Step 2: Compare your income to the “100%” threshold

KRS § 453.190(2) keys eligibility to “one hundred percent (100) on the sliding scale of indigency established by the Supreme Court of Kentucky by rule.”

Because the brief did not include the underlying Kentucky Supreme Court sliding-scale table text, the most practical approach is to treat DocketMath’s jurisdiction-aware threshold for “100%” as the operational target inside the calculator.

Conceptually, the calculator:

• computes your income percentage relative to the KY 100% threshold
• determines whether you are at or below that threshold

What the result categories typically mean (conceptually):

Step 3: Evaluate the “unable to pay without depriving dependents” prong

If the screener does not clearly support income-based eligibility—or if your situation is tight—you can still qualify under the second statutory prong:

• You are “unable to pay the costs and fees of the proceeding” without depriving yourself or your dependents.

Practically, this requires more than just income—it requires context about whether your household can absorb additional costs while meeting necessities (housing, food, essential utilities, etc.). DocketMath represents this using the screener’s additional fields and logic.

Depending on the data you provide, the screener may:

• flag possible eligibility when income/household context suggests insufficient surplus to cover added costs, or
• show insufficient information when household/expense-related inputs are missing.

Step 4: Confirm this is the default/general rule (not claim-type-specific)

Your brief did not identify a claim-type-specific indigency period or sub-rule for Kentucky. So the content below uses the default/general period clearly:

• Use the general/default period reflected in the calculator workflow.
• If a particular case type, court, or docket has a special requirement, follow the court instructions or the specific docket guidance—don’t assume the same approach always applies without checking.

Running the tool

• Primary CTA: /tools/fee-waiver-indigency
• If you also want the tool directory: /tools

Common pitfalls

These issues commonly cause incorrect screening results or prevent the calculator from properly evaluating the second prong.

1. Incorrect household size

   • Household size changes how the screener evaluates the “poor person” standard in practice.
2. Income frequency errors

   • Entering $2,000 biweekly as monthly (or vice versa) can move you across the “100%” threshold.
3. Leaving out predictable income

   • Omitting income that repeats (even if it fluctuates) may understate your real capacity.
4. Treating one-time payments as ongoing

   • One-time deposits (tax refunds, settlements) can distort the income-based screen if not clearly represented as non-recurring.
5. Ignoring the second prong’s wording

   • KRS § 453.190(2) includes an inability-to-pay standard, not only an income cutoff. If the screener prompts for household/cost context, fill it in.
6. Assuming a default rule replaces docket instructions

   • Since no claim-type-specific sub-rule was provided for Kentucky, use this as screening guidance, not a guarantee of how a particular court will apply requirements.

Sources and references

• Kentucky Revised Statutes (KRS) § 453.190(2) — definition of “poor person”
  https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=46760
  Statute excerpt (as provided in the brief): “A ‘poor person’ means a person who has an income at or below one hundred percent (100) on the sliding scale of indigency established by the Supreme Court of Kentucky by rule or is unable to pay the costs and fees of the proceeding in which he is involved without depriving himself or his dependents o…”

• TODO: Identify and cite the Kentucky Supreme Court rule that establishes the sliding scale of indigency at the “100%” level (the table/rule text was not provided in the brief).

Next steps

1. Run the screener using DocketMath: /tools/fee-waiver-indigency
2. Review what the output is telling you, such as:

   • whether the income-based prong screens at/under 100%
   • whether the tool indicates a need for more context for the inability-to-pay prong
3. Double-check key inputs:

   • household size
   • income amount and frequency alignment
   • which income sources you included (and what you can document)
4. Prepare documentation that matches the two-prong standard:

   • proof supporting the income inputs (for the “at/under 100%” comparison), and/or
   • household expense/necessity information supporting inability to pay without depriving dependents

Related reading

• How to calculate fee waiver & indigency screener in New York — Full how-to guide with jurisdiction-specific rules
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• How to file in forma pauperis in Alaska — Direct answer to the question