Access Fayette Circuit Court Clerk Records

Fayette County Circuit Court Clerk

The Kentucky Court of Justice Fayette County page identifies Vincent Riggs as the Fayette Circuit Court Clerk. In Kentucky, the Circuit Court Clerk is an elected court official who keeps custody, control, and safe storage of Circuit Court and District Court records. The office receives lawsuits and filings, attends court, schedules juries, collects fines and court costs, receives bond money, and routes members of the public to the correct division for case records.

That role is different from the Fayette County Clerk. The County Clerk, Susan Lamb, handles marriage licenses, recorded legal records, elections, and motor vehicle services from a separate office. The Circuit Court Clerk is the court-record custodian for felony files, civil actions, family and divorce cases, misdemeanor and traffic files, probate pleadings, court dockets, and certified court copies. When a Fayette County user needs pleadings, orders, transcripts, docket records, or a certified copy from a court case, the request starts with the Circuit Court Clerk or the division listed for that case type.

Fayette Circuit Clerk Duties

For court records, the word "clerk" means the Circuit Court Clerk. Fayette County court work is split between two adjacent Lexington buildings. Circuit Court matters at 120 North Limestone include felony criminal cases, circuit civil cases, Family Court matters, appeals, records work, and domestic violence processing. District Court matters at 150 North Limestone include misdemeanors, traffic, violations, small claims, lower-value civil cases, evictions, probate, mental health, juvenile matters, emergency protective order access, and felony preliminary proceedings.

The Kentucky Court of Justice clerk directory describes circuit court clerks as the officials responsible for the records of both Circuit and District Court. Public access is therefore division based. A felony indictment file goes to Circuit Criminal. A prepayable citation or misdemeanor case goes to District Criminal/Traffic. A will, estate, guardianship, or name change goes to the Probate Division of District Court. A divorce decree or family case file goes through Circuit Court and Family Court channels.

• Case-file and docket copy requests for Circuit Court, District Court, and Family Court records
• Certified court copies for pleadings, orders, decrees, judgments, and probate documents when available
• Fine, fee, restitution, court-cost, bail, and bond handling tied to court cases
• Jury scheduling, courtroom support, and filing intake for Kentucky trial-court matters
• Routing for older files, archived records, and records not exposed in public online tools

The Kentucky Court of Justice request court records page says court records may include citations, pleadings, motions, orders, evidence, reports, dockets, video recordings, and transcripts. Some items may be sealed, expunged, redacted, or confidential by law.

Request Fayette Certified Court Copies

Certified copies are used when a plain copy is not enough, such as a divorce decree, judgment, probate order, criminal disposition, or court order needed for another agency. The clerk must be able to identify the file and the specific document. Online tools can help locate a case number or court date, but Easy Pay and public case tools do not replace a direct certified-copy request to the Fayette Circuit Court Clerk division that keeps the file.

1. Identify the case type first. Circuit Criminal, Circuit Civil, Family Court, District Criminal/Traffic, Probate, Mental Health, and District Civil records are routed through different counters.
2. Search public Kentucky Court of Justice tools for a case number or court date if you do not already have one. Easy Pay can help with payable case, citation, and party searches.
3. Call or visit the correct Fayette division. Use Circuit Criminal at 859-246-2224, District Criminal/Traffic at 859-246-2228, District Civil at 859-246-2240, Probate at 859-246-2242, or Mental Health at 859-246-2236.
4. Ask for the exact document needed and state whether it must be certified. Be ready to give party names, case number, document type, and the number of copies.
5. Confirm the current copy and certification fee before payment. Kentucky civil filing fees change on July 1, 2026, and copy charges should be checked with the clerk at the time of request.

Note: For a marriage license or recorded land document, contact the Fayette County Clerk at 162 East Main Street instead of the Circuit Court Clerk.

Fayette Clerk Request Details

A Fayette court-record request works best when it gives the clerk enough detail to find the file without guessing. The research did not identify a single countywide court-record request form for every division. Use the Kentucky Court of Justice request guidance, the public case-search tools, and the correct Fayette division phone number to confirm what the office needs for the record type.

The Kentucky Court of Justice county clerk finder is the source used for the Circuit Court Clerk role and county routing.

The Kentucky Court of Justice explains the statewide Circuit Court Clerk role and county finder used to locate local court-record custodians.

Fayette Circuit Clerk Fees

Fayette court-copy costs should be confirmed with the division before mailing a payment or visiting the counter. The research file found published amounts for related Fayette and Kentucky services, but not a captured Fayette court-copy fee table. The safe path is to call the clerk division for plain-copy, certification, transcript, and archived-file charges. Civil filing costs also require caution because Kentucky Court of Justice announced fee increases effective July 1, 2026.

The fee distinction matters. A court-record copy, a state criminal background report, and a County Clerk marriage license are separate services with separate offices and payment rules.

Fayette Clerk Online Access

Kentucky gives Fayette users several online starting points before they contact the clerk. The Kentucky Court of Justice homepage links to public Find a Case, Find a Court Date, Pay Fine/Fee, eFiling, CourtNet, and jury resources. KYeCourts Easy Pay lets users search by case, citation, or party for payable matters. Easy Pay is useful for fines, fees, traffic citations, and some case lookup tasks, but it is not a full document portal for every pleading, exhibit, transcript, or certified copy.

For broader public case information, CourtNet can provide access from all 120 Kentucky counties, but the research notes that fuller CourtNet access can require registration, subscription, or approval. Media access is governed by a master subscription agreement and requires approval from the Administrative Office of the Courts. Ordinary users who need the actual Fayette file should treat online search as a locator step, then contact the proper clerk counter for documents.

The Kentucky Open Records Act chapter is published through the legislature at KRS 61.870 through KRS 61.884, but court case records are also subject to Kentucky Court of Justice control.

Mail and Filing Options

Fayette case filing and record access depend on the court division and case type. Attorneys and approved users may use Kentucky eFiling and CourtNet services where authorized. Members of the public can use state public tools to find a case or court date, then call or visit the clerk division for certified copies, older files, transcripts, exhibits, or documents that are not visible online. If the record is a criminal-history report rather than a case file, use the Kentucky AOC background checks page instead of a clerk copy request.

Public access has limits. Court of Justice records are governed by KRS 26A.200 and Supreme Court control, while Kentucky open records inspection rights are described in KRS 61.872. Juvenile records, mental-health proceedings, sealed files, expunged matters, adoption records, protected addresses, account numbers, and minor information may be withheld or redacted. That is why a public docket search may show less than the full file, and why clerk staff may ask for proof of eligibility before releasing restricted records.