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
First Circuit – Ballard, Carlisle, Fulton, Hickman Second Circuit – McCracken Third Circuit – Christian Fourth Circuit – Hopkins Fifth Circuit – Crittenden, Webster, Union Sixth Circuit – Daviess Seventh Circuit – Logan, Todd Eighth Circuit – Edmonson, Warren Ninth Circuit – Hardin Tenth Circuit – Hart, LaRue, Nelson Eleventh Circuit – Green, Marion, Taylor, Washington Twelfth Circuit – Henry, Oldham, Trimble Thirteenth Circuit – Garrard, Jessamine Fourteenth Circuit – Bourbon, Scott, Woodford Fifteenth Circuit – Carroll, Grant, Owen Sixteenth Circuit – Kenton Seventeenth Circuit – Campbell Eighteenth Circuit – Harrison, Nicholas, Pendleton, Robertson Nineteenth Circuit – Bracken, Fleming, Mason Twentieth Circuit – Greenup, Lewis Twenty-first Circuit – Bath, Menifee, Montgomery, Rowan Twenty-second Circuit – Fayette Twenty-third Circuit – Estill, Lee, Owsley Twenty-fourth Circuit – Johnson, Lawrence, Martin Twenty-fifth Circuit – Clark, Madison Twenty-sixth Circuit – Harlan Twenty-seventh Circuit – Knox, Laurel Twenty-eighth Circuit – Lincoln, Pulaski, Rockcastle Twenty-ninth Circuit – Adair, Casey Thirtieth Circuit – Jefferson - Jefferson County Circuit Court Thirty-first Circuit – Floyd Thirty-second Circuit – Boyd Thirty-third Circuit – Perry Thirty-fourth Circuit – McCreary, Whitley Thirty-fifth Circuit – Pike Thirty-sixth Circuit – Knott, Magoffin Thirty-seventh Circuit – Carter, Elliott, Morgan Thirty-eighth Circuit – Butler, Hancock, Ohio Thirty-ninth Circuit – Breathitt, Powell, Wolfe Fortieth Circuit – Clinton, Cumberland, Monroe Forty-first Circuit – Clay, Jackson, Leslie Forty-second Circuit – Calloway, Marshall Forty-third Circuit – Barren, Metcalfe Forty-fourth Circuit – Bell Forty-fifth Circuit – McLean, Muhlenberg Forty-sixth Circuit – Breckinridge, Grayson, Meade Forty-seventh Circuit – Letcher Forty-eighth Circuit – Franklin Forty-ninth Circuit – Allen, Simpson Fiftieth Circuit – Boyle, Mercer Fifty-first Circuit – Henderson Fifty-second Circuit – Graves Fifty-third Circuit – Anderson, Shelby, Spencer Fifty-fourth Circuit – Boone, Gallatin Fifty-fifth Circuit – Bullitt Fifty-sixth Circuit – Caldwell, Livingston, Lyon, Trigg Fifty-seventh Circuit – Russell, Wayne
Notes
References
External links Circuit Courts from the Kentucky judiciary website