Fayette County Circuit Court Overview
Kentucky uses a unified Court of Justice. Fayette Circuit Court is part of the 22nd Judicial Circuit and functions as the county's general-jurisdiction trial court. It handles felony criminal cases, circuit civil cases, family cases through Family Court, appeals from District Court, and other matters assigned by Kentucky law. The court sits in the Robert F. Stephens Circuit Courthouse at 120 North Limestone in downtown Lexington.
The Fayette Circuit Court Clerk, Vincent Riggs, is the working custodian for Circuit Court, Family Court, and District Court records. That role is different from the Fayette County Clerk, Susan Lamb, who handles marriage licenses, recorded legal records, elections, and motor vehicle services. A person searching for a felony indictment, divorce decree, family-court order, or circuit civil judgment should use the Circuit Court Clerk path, not the County Clerk counter.
The Eastern District of Kentucky CM/ECF login is a federal records access point and not a Fayette Circuit Court system.
Federal CM/ECF is useful only when the case belongs to federal court, not when a Fayette Circuit Court file is needed.
Fayette Circuit Court Divisions
Fayette does not use a separate county-by-county court system with independent municipal case files for state-law matters. The useful local table is a division table. Circuit criminal, circuit civil, family, appeals and records, and domestic violence functions are centered at the Circuit Courthouse, while District Court divisions are across the adjacent District Courthouse. When a caller does not know the division, the court page and Circuit Court Clerk office are the safer starting points than guessing from a case number alone.
| Division or court function | Type | Address | Phone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Circuit Criminal Division | Felony criminal | 120 N. Limestone, Suite C-103, Lexington, KY 40507 | 859-246-2224 |
| Circuit Civil Division | Civil cases above District Court jurisdiction | 120 N. Limestone, Lexington, KY 40507 | Use current Fayette Circuit page |
| Family Court Division | Divorce, custody, support, adoption-related and domestic relations | 120 N. Limestone, Lexington, KY 40507 | Use current Fayette Circuit page |
| Appeals and Records Division | Appeals, records, copy access | 120 N. Limestone, Lexington, KY 40507 | Use current Fayette Circuit page |
| Domestic Violence Division | Protective-order processing | Robert F. Stephens courthouse complex | Use current Fayette Circuit page |
| District Criminal/Traffic | Misdemeanor and traffic court record path | 150 N. Limestone, First Floor, Lexington, KY 40507 | 859-246-2228 |
| Probate Division | District Court probate records | 150 N. Limestone, Suite D-109/112, Lexington, KY 40507 | 859-246-2242 |
Circuit Court vs District Court
Fayette County Circuit Court and District Court are both Kentucky Court of Justice trial courts, but they do not handle the same records. Circuit Court is the broad trial court for serious criminal cases and higher-level civil and family matters. District Court is the limited trial court for lower-level criminal and civil matters, probate, traffic, juvenile, mental-health, and emergency protective-order access.
| Topic | Circuit Court | District Court | County Clerk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Civil jurisdiction | Higher-value civil actions and appeals | Civil complaints of $5,000 or less and small claims of $2,500 or less | No court case jurisdiction |
| Criminal jurisdiction | Felonies, indictments, informations, sentencing records | Misdemeanors, violations, traffic, arraignments, probable-cause hearings | No criminal case files |
| Family or probate | Family Court, divorce, custody, support | Probate, guardianship, mental health, juvenile | Marriage licenses and recorded instruments |
| Record request path | Circuit Court Clerk and KCOJ systems | Circuit Court Clerk and KCOJ systems | County Clerk office and county records systems |
Note: Lexington-Fayette has consolidated local government, but state court case files still run through Kentucky Circuit and District Courts.
Fayette Circuit Court Case Flow
Criminal and civil cases can move through the system in different ways. A felony may begin with an arrest, citation, complaint, or District Court preliminary matter before moving to Circuit Court after indictment or information. A civil case starts with a complaint or petition, then moves through service, response, motions, discovery, hearings, judgment, and possible appeal. Family cases use Circuit Court's Family Court division and may include sensitive sealed or redacted filings.
Felony flow: Arrest or charge › District Court first appearance or preliminary matter › grand jury indictment or information › Circuit Court arraignment › motions and hearings › plea or trial › disposition › sentencing › appeal.
Civil flow: Complaint or petition › summons and service › answer › motions › discovery › settlement or mediation › trial or judgment › post-judgment action › appeal.
Fayette Circuit Court Records
Fayette Circuit Court records can include criminal citations that moved into a felony file, indictments, informations, pleadings, motions, orders, evidence, reports, dockets, transcripts, video recordings, judgments, sentencing orders, probation conditions, restitution, and bond events. Family records can include divorce decrees, custody orders, child-support orders, settlement agreements, mediation orders, post-decree motions, and sealed or redacted financial and child-related material.
Online public tools can help locate case and court-date information, but they do not replace a clerk copy request. CourtNet access beyond public-facing tools can require registration, subscription, or approval. KYeCourts Easy Pay can search by case, citation, or party for payable matters. Full document copies, certified records, transcripts, exhibits, and older paper or archived files should be requested from the Fayette Office of Circuit Court Clerk.
- Indictment
- A grand jury's formal felony charging document.
- Information
- A prosecutor-filed formal felony charge where permitted.
- Disposition
- The way a charge or case was resolved.
- Expungement
- Removal or deletion of eligible records from public official systems under Kentucky statute.
District Court in Fayette Cases
District Court is the starting point for many matters that never become Circuit Court files. The District Criminal/Traffic Division handles misdemeanors, traffic offenses, prepayable citations, bail bonds, property-bond lien releases, and emergency protective-order access. Its public counter is unusually broad because research lists it as open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, closed only December 24 and December 25.
District Court also handles small claims, civil complaints of $5,000 or less, forcible detainer evictions, probate, mental-health petitions, juvenile matters, city and county ordinance cases, and felony probable-cause hearings. Appeals from District Court go to Circuit Court. That means a record seeker may need District Court docket information first, then Circuit Court records later if the case was appealed or indicted.
Federal Court Is Separate
Fayette County is also home to federal court offices, but those are not Fayette Circuit Court. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky lists the Lexington courthouse at 101 Barr Street, Lexington, KY 40507, phone 859-233-2503. Federal civil and criminal cases are searched through PACER and federal CM/ECF, not KCOJ or the Fayette Circuit Court Clerk.
Bankruptcy records are separate as well. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky lists a Lexington office at 100 East Vine Street, Suite 200, with intake hours of 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday except federal holidays. Those cases use bankruptcy CM/ECF and PACER lookup, not the state court docket path.
The Eastern District of Kentucky bankruptcy court maintains bankruptcy case access separate from Fayette County Circuit Court.
Use bankruptcy court only for bankruptcy files, adversary proceedings, and federal bankruptcy docket materials.
The PACER lookup for Kentucky Eastern Bankruptcy Court identifies the federal bankruptcy court code and electronic filing system.
PACER lookup helps confirm federal court identity before a user spends time searching the wrong state-court office.