Kentucky Circuit Courts

The Kentucky Circuit Courts are the state courts of general jurisdiction in the U.S. state of Kentucky.

Jurisdiction and bench
The Circuit Courts are trial courts with original jurisdiction in cases involving capital offenses and other felonies; land disputes; contested probates of wills; and civil lawsuits in disputes with an amount in controversy over $5,000. Circuit courts also have the power to issue injunctions, writs of prohibition, writs of mandamus, and appeals from the decisions of administrative agencies.

Circuit Courts also hear appeals from the District Courts, which in Kentucky are courts of limited jurisdiction that hear misdemeanor criminal cases, traffic violations, violations of county and municipal ordinances and small claims.

The family court division of Circuit Court has original jurisdiction in cases involving dissolution of marriage (divorce), child custody, visitation, maintenance and support (alimony and child support), equitable distribution of property in dissolution cases; adoption, and termination of parental rights. The family court division has concurrent jurisdiction with the District Court over proceedings involving domestic violence and abuse, the Uniform Parentage Act and Uniform Interstate Family Support Act, dependency, child abuse and neglect, and juvenile status offenses.

In 2019, the Kentucky Supreme Court created a Business Court Docket Pilot project in the Jefferson County Circuit Court, effective January 1, 2020.

Circuit judges serve in eight-year terms. There are 57 circuits, which may have one or more judges, depending on the population and docket size. Circuits may include one or more counties; some have up to four. The Jefferson County Circuit Court is the largest single unified trial court in Kentucky.

Appeals from decisions of the Circuit Courts are made to the Kentucky Court of Appeals, the state intermediate appellate court, which may be further appealed to the Kentucky Supreme Court. (Criminal cases in which a defendant has been sentenced to death, life imprisonment, or imprisonment of 20 years or more are taken directly to the Kentucky Supreme Court.)

Circuits

 * 1) First Circuit – Ballard, Carlisle, Fulton, Hickman
 * 2) Second Circuit – McCracken
 * 3) Third Circuit – Christian
 * 4) Fourth Circuit – Hopkins
 * 5) Fifth Circuit – Crittenden, Webster, Union
 * 6) Sixth Circuit – Daviess
 * 7) Seventh Circuit – Logan, Todd
 * 8) Eighth Circuit – Edmonson, Warren
 * 9) Ninth Circuit – Hardin
 * 10) Tenth Circuit – Hart, LaRue, Nelson
 * 11) Eleventh Circuit – Green, Marion, Taylor, Washington
 * 12) Twelfth Circuit – Henry, Oldham, Trimble
 * 13) Thirteenth Circuit – Garrard, Jessamine
 * 14) Fourteenth Circuit – Bourbon, Scott, Woodford
 * 15) Fifteenth Circuit – Carroll, Grant, Owen
 * 16) Sixteenth Circuit – Kenton
 * 17) Seventeenth Circuit – Campbell
 * 18) Eighteenth Circuit – Harrison, Nicholas, Pendleton, Robertson
 * 19) Nineteenth Circuit – Bracken, Fleming, Mason
 * 20) Twentieth Circuit – Greenup, Lewis
 * 21) Twenty-first Circuit – Bath, Menifee, Montgomery, Rowan
 * 22) Twenty-second Circuit – Fayette
 * 23) Twenty-third Circuit – Estill, Lee, Owsley
 * 24) Twenty-fourth Circuit – Johnson, Lawrence, Martin
 * 25) Twenty-fifth Circuit – Clark, Madison
 * 26) Twenty-sixth Circuit – Harlan
 * 27) Twenty-seventh Circuit – Knox, Laurel
 * 28) Twenty-eighth Circuit – Lincoln, Pulaski, Rockcastle
 * 29) Twenty-ninth Circuit – Adair, Casey
 * 30) Thirtieth Circuit – Jefferson - Jefferson County Circuit Court
 * 31) Thirty-first Circuit – Floyd
 * 32) Thirty-second Circuit – Boyd
 * 33) Thirty-third Circuit – Perry
 * 34) Thirty-fourth Circuit – McCreary, Whitley
 * 35) Thirty-fifth Circuit – Pike
 * 36) Thirty-sixth Circuit – Knott, Magoffin
 * 37) Thirty-seventh Circuit – Carter, Elliott, Morgan
 * 38) Thirty-eighth Circuit – Butler, Hancock, Ohio
 * 39) Thirty-ninth Circuit – Breathitt, Powell, Wolfe
 * 40) Fortieth Circuit – Clinton, Cumberland, Monroe
 * 41) Forty-first Circuit – Clay, Jackson, Leslie
 * 42) Forty-second Circuit – Calloway, Marshall
 * 43) Forty-third Circuit – Barren, Metcalfe
 * 44) Forty-fourth Circuit – Bell
 * 45) Forty-fifth Circuit – McLean, Muhlenberg
 * 46) Forty-sixth Circuit – Breckinridge, Grayson, Meade
 * 47) Forty-seventh Circuit – Letcher
 * 48) Forty-eighth Circuit – Franklin
 * 49) Forty-ninth Circuit – Allen, Simpson
 * 50) Fiftieth Circuit – Boyle, Mercer
 * 51) Fifty-first Circuit – Henderson
 * 52) Fifty-second Circuit – Graves
 * 53) Fifty-third Circuit – Anderson, Shelby, Spencer
 * 54) Fifty-fourth Circuit – Boone, Gallatin
 * 55) Fifty-fifth Circuit – Bullitt
 * 56) Fifty-sixth Circuit – Caldwell, Livingston, Lyon, Trigg
 * 57) Fifty-seventh Circuit – Russell, Wayne