Find Clark County Marriage Records

Clark County Marriage License

Marriage licenses in Clark County are issued by the Clark County Clerk, not the Circuit Court Clerk. The clerk is Michelle S. Turner, and the office handles licenses, recorded legal instruments, county-clerk open records, notary matters, elections, vehicle records, and other county services. The local county government service list also identifies marriage licenses and wills as County Clerk services.

The County Clerk office is at 34 South Main Street, Room 109, Winchester, KY 40391. The office phone is 859-745-0280, fax is 859-745-4251, and the listed email is michelles.turner@ky.gov. Hours are Monday 8:00-5:00, Tuesday through Friday 8:00-4:00, and Saturday 9:00-Noon. Clark County research confirms a marriage license fee of $60.00.

Apply for Marriage Records

Kentucky county clerks issue marriage licenses. Clark County research confirms the local office and fee, but the Clark source does not publish a full applicant checklist. Before going to the clerk, call the office for current identification rules, under-18 questions, prior-marriage documents, and whether both applicants must appear together. Statewide county-clerk examples say applicants appear together, a Kentucky marriage license is valid for 30 days, and the ceremony must occur in Kentucky.

1. Contact or visit the Clark County Clerk at the South Main Street office and confirm the current applicant checklist.
2. Bring valid identification and any prior-marriage or unusual-status documents the clerk says are needed.
3. Have both applicants appear together if the clerk confirms that requirement for the license.
4. Pay the Clark County marriage license fee and review the issued license before leaving.
5. After the ceremony, make sure the officiant returns the license for recording.

Once the license is recorded, a person looking for Clark County marriage records may use the County Clerk's office, the clerk's online record channel, or Kentucky Vital Statistics if a state certificate is needed for an event covered by the state certificate system.

Search Clark County Marriages

The Clark County Clerk records page says most legal documents are maintained from 1795 to present, indexes for most document types are available back to 1880 with a few exceptions, and images for most instrument filings are online from January 1795 to the current date. The records listed for online real estate and recorded instruments include marriages, deeds, name changes, mechanics liens, mortgages, powers of attorney, wills, corporations, tax liens, military discharges, trademarks, assignments, releases, and delinquent property taxes.

Online access runs through eCCLIX Central. The Clark County Clerk states that an account and password must be assigned by SMI, the website administrator, and that access fees are charged for data and images. The same local records page says all public records and indexes are available for free viewing in the County Clerk's office. That distinction matters for genealogy work because older Clark County marriage materials may be easier to inspect at the clerk's office if an online image is missing, unclear, or outside the expected index range.

Find Clark County Divorce

Divorce records have two tracks. The divorce case file is a court record because Kentucky Circuit Court handles divorces, with Family Court functions in the judicial circuit where applicable. Requests for Clark County divorce case files start with the Clark County Circuit Court Clerk at the Governor James Clark Judicial Center. The state court page lists Circuit Court phone 859-737-7264, District Court phone 859-737-7141, and fax 859-737-7005.

A certified divorce certificate is different from the court case file. The Kentucky Office of Vital Statistics marriage and divorce page handles certificate requests. The certificate may confirm the event, but it is not the same as the pleadings, orders, settlement terms, custody orders, or final decree held in the court file. Divorce files may contain redacted and unredacted versions because Social Security numbers, dates of birth, financial account numbers, child information, and protected addresses should not be exposed in public copies.

Certificate Form Fields

The VS-230 application is used for Kentucky marriage and divorce certificate requests. The Clark County Clerk links the form from its forms page, and the form directs payment by check or money order payable to Kentucky State Treasurer. It also notes that additional copies cost the same amount as the first copy. The state vital-records office does not issue photocopies, faxed copies, non-certified copies, or electronic copies for these certificate requests.

Clark County Record Fees

Marriage and divorce costs depend on the record type. The local license fee is paid to the County Clerk. State certificates are ordered through Vital Statistics. Court copies and decree copies must be checked with the Circuit Court Clerk or current court fee schedule because the Clark research did not locate a local divorce filing or decree-copy amount in official sources.

Note: The research did not locate a Clark County official divorce filing fee; confirm court costs with the Circuit Court Clerk before filing.

Kentucky Vital Records

The Kentucky Office of Vital Statistics collects, preserves, and protects certificates for births, deaths, marriages, divorces, and stillbirths. Kentucky state marriage and divorce certificates are available for events since June 1958, while county-level copies vary by the county where the license was issued or the decree was recorded. For older Clark County marriage research, the County Clerk's long record range is the more useful first stop.

For divorce filing help, Kentucky Court of Justice legal forms and the Kentucky self-help portal include dissolution resources for self-represented users. Court forms do not replace legal advice, but they are the researched state channel for finding official forms and guided interviews. After a decree is entered, copy requests go back to the Circuit Court Clerk, while the certificate request goes to Vital Statistics.