Start With Clark County Court Records
The official trial-court records office is the Office of Circuit Court Clerk at the Governor James Clark Judicial Center. Kentucky Court of Justice says the Administrative Office of the Courts does not maintain local case files for copy requests. For Clark County Circuit, Family, and District Court records, requests begin with Circuit Court Clerk Tony Kirk's office at 17 Cleveland Ave., P.O. Box 687, Winchester, KY 40392.
Use the Circuit Court number, 859-737-7264, for felony, divorce, higher-value civil, adoption, termination, and Circuit Court appeal files. Use the District Court number, 859-737-7141, for misdemeanors, traffic, violations, probate of wills, small claims, lower-dollar civil cases, and preliminary felony hearings. The state court page lists office hours as Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., with fax at 859-737-7005.
- Identify the case type, party name, and case number if known.
- Decide whether the file belongs to Circuit, Family, or District Court.
- Check KYeCourts or Easy Pay for public case or payment data when available.
- Call or visit the Circuit Court Clerk for official copies, older files, or certified records.
- Ask the clerk for State Records Center locator numbers if an older file has been stored off site.
Clark County Court Records Online
KYeCourts is Kentucky's court application login for criminal and civil cases filed with the Kentucky Court System. CourtNet is described by the Kentucky Court of Justice as the online database for public case information from all 120 counties. Access can depend on account status, user type, and approval, so a login screen is not the same as open document access.
For fines, fees, traffic citations, and payable matters, KYeCourts Easy Pay is the more public-facing route. Easy Pay supports search by case, citation, or party. It can help confirm a payable obligation, but it does not replace a full court file, a certified copy, or a clerk's confirmation that a record is complete.
| Field Label | Type | Required | Notes / Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Username | Text | Yes | KYeCourts account username for case-system access. |
| Password | Password | Yes | KBA users use KBA number and password where directed. |
| County | Dropdown | Yes for case search | Easy Pay county options include Clark. |
| Case # | Text | Yes for case search | Use the court case number with county selected. |
| Year, Control #, Type | Text / option | Yes for citation search | Year is four characters; control number is seven characters; type uses 0 through 9. |
| First Name, Last Name, Birth Date | Text / date | Yes for party search | Party search requires all three fields. |
Clark County Court Record Types
Kentucky's court structure matters because Clark County court records are split by subject. Circuit Court handles felony criminal cases, capital offenses, civil matters over the District Court limit, divorce, adoption, termination of parental rights, real-property title disputes, and appeals from District Court. Family Court is a division of Circuit Court for family-law matters where assigned.
District Court handles misdemeanors, violations, traffic offenses, city and county ordinance matters, small claims, lower-value civil cases, juvenile matters, probate of wills, mental-health proceedings, domestic violence and abuse cases, arraignments, and felony probable-cause hearings. The Circuit Court Clerk is still the records office for both levels.
- Civil records can include complaints, summonses, answers, motions, orders, judgments, liens, garnishments, settlements, and releases.
- Criminal records can include citations, complaints, indictments, pleas, motions, sentencing orders, probation terms, and disposition entries.
- Family records can include divorce, custody, child support, domestic-relations motions, and protected filings with redactions.
- Probate records can include wills, petitions, fiduciary appointments, inventories, settlements, claims, and final orders.
- Traffic and misdemeanor records can include citations, court dates, charges, pleas, fines, costs, warrants, and payment plans.
What Clark County Court Records Show
A case file is broader than a search result. Kentucky Court of Justice describes court case records as official documentation of a court proceeding, including criminal citations, pleadings, motions, orders, evidence, reports, dockets, video recordings, and transcripts. Online systems may show only part of that picture.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Case number | The unique court identifier needed for precise clerk retrieval. |
| Court and division | Whether the case is in Circuit, Family, District, appellate, or another listed court category. |
| Party names | Plaintiff, defendant, petitioner, respondent, attorney, agency, or prosecutor, subject to redaction rules. |
| Filing date | The date a complaint, petition, citation, indictment, or other starting document entered the file. |
| Docket entries | A chronological record of filings, hearings, motions, orders, and other case events. |
| Status or disposition | The current status or final outcome, such as judgment, dismissal, conviction, acquittal, or amended charge. |
| Financial fields | Fines, fees, court costs, bonds, payment plans, or restitution where applicable. |
| Redactions | Hidden or removed identifiers, juvenile details, adoption details, sealed material, or expunged material. |
Clark County Court Records Access
Kentucky public access is shaped by the Kentucky Open Records Act and court-specific custody rules. KRS 61.872 gives Kentucky residents the right to inspect nonexempt public records, while KRS 61.878 allows agencies to withhold confidential or protected information. Court records still start with the clerk of the court that heard the case.
Certified records are different from casual online lookup results. A certified copy is authenticated by the clerk for official use. Clark County court copy fees were not itemized in the research file, so the safe route is to confirm current copy, certification, payment, and mailing rules with the Circuit Court Clerk before sending a request. For county-clerk recorded instruments, different fee schedules apply at the Clark County Clerk.
Note: Online case information may help locate a file, but the clerk controls official copies and certification.
Restricted Clark County Court Records
Not every Clark County court record is open by name search. Juvenile records are confidential under Kentucky law and 505 KAR 1:300. Adoption records are confidential under KRS 199.570 unless the court that granted the adoption authorizes access. Mental-health proceedings are sensitive District Court matters and should not be treated like ordinary civil dockets.
Sealed and expunged records also leave the public view. Kentucky Court of Justice expungement guidance explains that, when qualifying felony expungement is granted, the original judgment is vacated, charges are dismissed, and records held by agencies or officials, including law enforcement, are expunged. KRS 431.073 governs eligible Class D felony conviction expungement. Personal identifiers, financial account data, protected addresses, minors' names, and similar details may be redacted from otherwise public files.
County Clerk Records Are Different
The Clark County Clerk is not the court case clerk. County Clerk Michelle S. Turner handles land records, recorded instruments, marriage licenses, recorded wills, notary matters, elections, vehicle records, and open-records requests for county-clerk records. The office is at 34 South Main Street, Room 109, Winchester, KY 40391, with phone 859-745-0280 and email michelles.turner@ky.gov.
The Clark County Clerk records page says most courthouse documents are maintained from 1795 to present, indexes are available for most document types back to 1880, and images are available online for most instrument filings from January 1795 to current date. Online access uses eCCLIX, while all public records and indexes are available for free viewing in the County Clerk's office.
Clark County Circuit Court Clerk
Governor James Clark Judicial Center
17 Cleveland Ave., P.O. Box 687
Winchester, KY 40392
Circuit: 859-737-7264
District: 859-737-7141
Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-4 p.m.