The Kentucky professional LLC
What creates it in Kentucky
KRS Chapter 275, the Kentucky limited liability company act. KRS 275.015(25): "'Professional limited liability company' means a limited liability company organized under this chapter or the laws of another state or foreign country for purposes that include, but are not limited to, the providing of one (1) or more professional services. Except as otherwise expressly provided in this chapter, all provisions of this chapter governing limited liability companies shall be applicable to professional limited liability companies." KRS 275.025(3): "The articles of organization of a professional limited liability company shall designate the professional services to be practiced through the professional limited liability company." The Secretary of State publishes form PLC, Articles of Organization – Professional Service, filed pursuant to KRS 14A and KRS 275.
What the name must contain
KRS 14A.3-010(3): the real name of a limited liability company shall end with the phrase "limited liability company" or "limited company" or the abbreviation "LLC" or "LC", "provided, however, if the company is a professional limited liability company the name shall end with the phrase 'professional limited liability company' or 'professional limited company' or the abbreviation 'PLLC' or 'PLC.'" In the name of either kind of company, "limited" may be abbreviated as "Ltd." and "Company" as "Co."
Which occupations Kentucky says must use it
Kentucky applies two different tests to its two professional forms, and the difference is the point. For the professional limited liability company the test is a closed enumerated list: KRS 275.015(26), "'Professional services' mean the personal services rendered by physicians, osteopaths, optometrists, podiatrists, chiropractors, dentists, nurses, pharmacists, psychologists, occupational therapists, veterinarians, engineers, architects, landscape architects, certified public accountants, public accountants, physical therapists, and attorneys." For the professional service corporation the test is open-ended: KRS 274.005(2), "'Professional service' means any type of personal service to the public which requires as a condition precedent to the rendering of such service the obtaining of a license or other legal authorization and which, prior to the passage of this chapter and by reason of law or a professional code of ethics, could not be performed by a corporation", followed by an expressly non-exhaustive illustration: "The personal services which come within the provisions of this chapter are the personal services rendered by but not limited to certified public accountants, public accountants, chiropractors, osteopaths, physicians and surgeons, doctors of medicine, doctors of dentistry, podiatrists, chiropodists, architects, veterinarians, optometrists, and attorneys-at-law." A profession outside the KRS 275.015(26) list may therefore qualify for a Kentucky professional service corporation while not qualifying for a Kentucky PLLC. KRS 274.015(1) allows one profession, or related professions where the licensing laws and regulations would not prohibit practising them together through a single business partnership.
Kentucky also offers a corporation under a professional statute
A practice choosing between the two forms is choosing between these rules and the ones above.
What creates it in Kentucky
KRS Chapter 274, Professional Service Corporations (KRS 274.005 to 274.125). KRS 274.015(1) requires the articles to meet KRS Chapter 271B and, in addition to what KRS 271B.2-020 requires, to designate the profession or professions to be practised, name all original shareholders with residence addresses, and carry a statement that each incorporator, each shareholder, not less than half the directors and each officer other than secretary and treasurer is a qualified person. KRS 274.015(2) otherwise governs the corporation by KRS Chapter 271B. The Secretary of State publishes form KPS, Articles of Incorporation – Professional Service.
What the name must contain
KRS 14A.3-010(2)(a)2: the real name of a corporation, "if a professional service corporation, shall end with the words 'professional service corporation' or the abbreviation 'P.S.C.'" KRS 14A.3-010(2)(b) adds that the name shall not contain language stating or implying that the corporation is organised for a purpose other than one permitted by its organic act and its articles. Under KRS 274.015(3), a corporation that stops rendering professional services may amend its articles to drop the chapter 274 provisions and adopt a name conforming to KRS 271B.4-010, after which KRS Chapter 271B alone governs it.
Does the agent requirement differ from an ordinary Kentucky LLC’s?
No. Kentucky sets no separate agent requirement for a professional entity — it is the same requirement an ordinary Kentucky LLC files under.
What else Kentucky requires
Kentucky publishes a distinct form for each professional entity and lists them beside the ordinary ones in its Business Forms Library: under Domestic Limited Liability Company Forms, Articles of Organization – Professional Service (PLC) sits next to Articles of Organization – Profit (KLC); under Domestic Corporation Forms, Articles of Incorporation – Professional Service (KPS) sits next to Articles of Incorporation – Profit (PAI). Kentucky's entity-name rules for every form live in one place, KRS 14A.3-010, part of the Kentucky Business Entity Filing Act, rather than in the LLC and professional-corporation chapters; KRS 275.025(1)(a) and KRS 274.015(1) simply point there. Note that the PLLC designator set includes PLC as well as PLLC, so a Kentucky company ending in PLC is a professional limited liability company, not a public limited company. The registered office and registered agent are set by KRS 14A.4-010 through KRS 275.025(1)(b) for every Kentucky LLC alike, so a PLLC's agent requirement is the ordinary one. Both the PC and PLLC definitions of "regulating board" (KRS 274.005(5) and KRS 275.015(28)) identify the agency that licenses the profession, but neither chapter makes that board a gatekeeper to the filing. KRS 274.005 is at https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=13780 and KRS 14A.3-010 at https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=45775.
Verified against the Kentucky Secretary of State, Business Filings (www.sos.ky.gov/bus/Forms/Pages/default.aspx) · Statute text: apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=47081 · Last updated September 2026. Kentucky only — the rules in this cluster differ by jurisdiction, and this page speaks for no other.