Jefferson County Circuit Court Clerk Records

About the Jefferson County Circuit Court Clerk

The Office of Circuit Court Clerk keeps the records of Kentucky's Circuit, Family, District, and Business courts. In Jefferson County, the main administrative office is in the Louis D. Brandeis Hall of Justice. The Kentucky Court of Justice points record seekers to the clerk of the court that heard the case, which makes this office the front door for case copies in the county.

For court dates and case information, the office also points to the statewide KYeCourts and docket systems.

One distinction saves a lot of confusion. The Circuit Court Clerk holds court case records: criminal dispositions, civil judgments, divorce decrees, and probate files. The County Clerk, a separate office, holds land records, marriage licenses, and recorded documents. If you need a court ruling, this is the office; if you need a deed or a marriage license, the County Clerk is the place. Sending a request to the wrong clerk is the most common delay people hit.

What the Circuit Court Clerk Does in Jefferson County

The clerk's office runs through several divisions, each tied to a kind of case. Circuit Civil handles civil cases of $5,000 or more, while Circuit Criminal handles felony cases after indictment. Family Court has 10 divisions for dissolution, custody, and support. District Criminal and Traffic handles misdemeanors, citations, and bonds, and District Civil and Small Claims handles smaller civil matters, evictions, and probate intake.

The Circuit Civil and Criminal division page lists the locations, hours, and case types for those divisions.

District Criminal and Traffic is the largest division in the clerk's office, and its hours stand out. Full services run on weekdays, but limited services, including bonds and emergency petitions, continue around the clock. Starting Saturday afternoon, service is limited until full service resumes Monday morning. Fines and costs can be paid online or by phone at any time. Beyond the trial divisions, the office also runs Archives and Records for older files and an Audio/Video division for proceeding recordings.

• Circuit Civil, room 309 in the Judicial Center, for larger civil cases.
• Circuit Criminal, room 331, for felony indictments and Circuit warrants.
• Family Court, room 105, for family and child cases.
• District Criminal and Traffic, the largest division, for citations and bonds.
• Probate intake through District Civil and Small Claims.

How to Request a Certified Copy

A certified copy carries the clerk's seal and is the version courts and agencies accept. Plain copies are fine for personal use, but legal matters usually need certification. The steps below follow the clerk's process.

1. Identify the division that heard the case, such as Circuit Criminal or Family Court.
2. For a current case, contact that division; for a dated case, use Archives and Records.
3. Complete the Archives and Records request form with party names and case details.
4. Submit it by email or mail to the Archives and Records Division.
5. Pay the page and certification cost by an accepted method to receive the copy.

For the broader search process, see Jefferson County court records.

Give the clerk as much detail as you can. A case number is the fastest way to a certified copy, but party names with dates of birth and an approximate year also work. If a case is confidential, such as a juvenile or mental health matter, expect to show party or attorney status, since those files are not open to the general public.

Records Request Form Fields

The Archives and Records request form asks for enough detail to locate a dated case. The table lists the key fields the form collects.

Personal checks are not accepted; checks and money orders are made payable to the Office of the Circuit Court Clerk.

Jefferson County Circuit Court Clerk Fees

The clerk sets copy and certification costs, and a few services carry set local fees. The table lists figures from official sources, with court copy charges noted where the amount is set per request.

The Archives form leaves blanks for page count and certification cost, which the clerk fills in based on the request.

Older Court Records and Archives

Not every old case can be pulled at the active courtroom window. The Archives and Records Division in the Old Jail Building holds dated Circuit Criminal, Family Court, and District Court cases. It also keeps microfilm, including Circuit Civil from 1930 to 1982 and Circuit Criminal from 1953 to 1985. To request a dated case, the clerk asks for party names, dates of birth, an approximate timeframe, any case number, and your contact information.

Very old files may live outside the clerk. The Kentucky Court of Justice says records 15 to 35 years old may be requested from the State Records Center using case and file locator numbers from the local clerk, and records 36 years and older may route to the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives. That archive cannot search by name or Social Security number, so the locator numbers matter. This pathway is why a researcher should start with the active division, then move to Archives, then to the state record facilities for the oldest files.

Confidential Divisions and Access Limits

Some divisions handle records the public cannot freely view. The Juvenile Division gives case information only to the child, a parent, the victim, or a court-authorized person, and it requires a photo ID. The Mental Health Division bars photos and recordings because of statutory confidentiality. The clerk also staffs the Domestic Violence Intake Center, a 24-hour intake point for emergency protective orders.

Audio and video from confidential cases can be requested only by a party or that party's attorney under a judicial order. When a record is closed, the clerk will explain the limit, and access usually requires party status, counsel, or a court order rather than an open request.

Common Circuit Court Clerk Forms

A handful of forms cover most record requests. The right form depends on what you need and how old the case is.

• Archives and Records request form, for dated cases and certifications.
• Audio/Video request form, for DVD copies of proceedings.
• Expungement petition materials, filed through the Expungement and Information Processing Division.
• Kentucky Court of Justice legal forms, for self-help filings.

The Audio/Video Division provides DVD copies of Circuit, Family, and District proceedings, with processing in two to four days after payment.

Mail, Online Filing, and Expungement

Archives requests may be submitted by email or by mail to the Archives and Records Division. The clerk accepts cash, credit or debit cards, cashier's or certified checks, and money orders, but not personal checks. Statewide KYeCourts and eFiling cover electronic case access and filing, and fines or costs can be paid online or by phone.

Expungement runs through the clerk's Expungement and Information Processing Division. After a person gets the required certificate of eligibility, the petition is filed, and if the court grants it, the division distributes the order and expunges the electronic record. The Expungement and Information Processing page covers the local fee and payment methods.

Guilty-conviction expungement petitioners pay a $100 fee per case, while dismissals and acquittals follow a different path.

Related Jefferson County Resources

The clerk's office ties into nearly every record on the site, so the related pages are worth a look. You may also want court records, court dockets, the County Clerk page, or the Circuit Court page for the courts the clerk serves.