State Resources
Kentucky
Kentucky has no free public case search, and it makes up for it with something better in one respect — the court system itself will sell anyone a statewide criminal record report, pulled from its own docket data rather than a police repository.
At a glance
| Record | Held by | Cost | Online |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business and entity search | Secretary of State | Free to search | Yes |
| UCC filings | Secretary of State — UCC | Free to search | Yes |
| Professional licenses | Individual licensing boards | Free | By board |
| Property and land records | County clerk and property valuation administrator | Free online in most counties | By county |
| Court records | Court of Justice (no free public search) | Free at the courthouse; AOC report carries a fee | No public portal |
| Criminal records | Administrative Office of the Courts | Fee per name | Yes |
| Vital records | Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Vital Statistics | Certified copies carry a fee | Yes |
| Unclaimed property | State Treasury | Free | Yes |
| Voter and resident records | State Board of Elections | Free | Yes |
Worth knowing about Kentucky
The AOC sells a statewide court-based criminal record report
Most states hand you a police repository check. Kentucky hands you something better.
The Administrative Office of the Courts — the courts themselves — provides a statewide criminal record report to anyone who asks, for a fee. It’s built from the court’s own case data across all 120 counties.
That distinction matters. A police repository tells you what law enforcement reported; a court-based report tells you what the courts actually did. Dispositions are the weak point of every repository check in the country, and this one comes from the source that entered them.
It covers Kentucky only, it goes back a defined number of years, and expunged records are excluded. But for a Kentucky name check it’s the right product, and it’s open to the public without consent.
There’s no free public case search
Kentucky doesn’t publish a free public docket search. CourtNet, the court records system, is available to subscribers and to authorized users rather than to the general public over the web.
Your free options are the courthouse and the clerk. Every circuit court clerk can run a name search, and Kentucky clerks are generally helpful about it.
For most purposes the AOC record report described above is the answer — it’s the thing the free search would have told you, packaged and certified, from the same data.
Kentucky merged its circuit and district clerk functions, so one office per county handles both tiers. That’s a genuine convenience: one call covers felonies and misdemeanors.
Record by record
Business and entity search
Open business filings →- Held by
- Secretary of State
- Cost
- Free to search
Free entity search returning status, formation date, registered agent, and the officers or members listed on the annual report. Filed images are viewable.
Kentucky requires an annual report, so an entity in good standing has been refreshed within the year.
UCC filings
Open UCC →- Held by
- Secretary of State — UCC
- Cost
- Free to search
UCC financing statements filed centrally with the Secretary of State and searchable by debtor name.
A UCC-1 names the debtor, the secured party and the collateral. Kentucky filings frequently cover farm equipment, livestock and — distinctively — horses, which are titled assets of real value here.
Professional licenses
- Held by
- Individual licensing boards
- Cost
- Free
No single statewide lookup. Medical, nursing, and the trades are each separate boards under the Public Protection Cabinet. Search the specific board.
Property and land records
- Held by
- County clerk and property valuation administrator
- Cost
- Free online in most counties
No statewide property search. The county clerk records deeds and the property valuation administrator (PVA) holds ownership and assessed value — Kentucky’s term for the assessor.
Jefferson County (Louisville) and Fayette County (Lexington) are the deepest online. Many rural PVA sites are free but thin.
Court records
Open Court of Justice →- Held by
- Court of Justice (no free public search)
- Cost
- Free at the courthouse; AOC report carries a fee
No free public docket search over the web. Use the circuit court clerk, a courthouse terminal, or order the AOC record report.
Kentucky combines the circuit and district clerk in one office per county, so a single clerk covers both court tiers.
Criminal records
Open Kentucky Court of Justice →- Held by
- Administrative Office of the Courts
- Cost
- Fee per name
Statewide court-based criminal record report, open to the public, no consent required. Built from Kentucky court data across all 120 counties.
Because it comes from the courts rather than a police repository, the dispositions are reliable in a way most state checks aren’t.
Vital records
Open vital statistics →- Held by
- Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Vital Statistics
- Cost
- Certified copies carry a fee
Births, deaths, marriages and divorces from the state office. Kentucky restricts certified copies to people with a direct interest.
Kentucky marriage and divorce indexes are relatively open historically, which makes them useful for building a relationship timeline.
Unclaimed property
Open unclaimed property →- Held by
- State Treasury
- Cost
- Free
Free name search. The holder named on a reported item is a confirmed bank, insurer or employer relationship with a last known address.
Voter and resident records
Open voter information →- Held by
- State Board of Elections
- Cost
- Free
Individual registration lookup confirming status, county and precinct. Kentucky sells the bulk voter list with restrictions.
Public records requests in Kentucky
- Statute
- Ky. Rev. Stat. §§ 61.870 et seq. (Open Records Act)
- Response deadline
- Five business days
- Appeal to
- Attorney General, or circuit court
- Appeal window
- No fixed deadline for the Attorney General
Five business days to respond. The strong part of Kentucky’s statute is the appeal: you write to the Attorney General, who issues a written decision.
That decision has the force and effect of law if neither party appeals it to circuit court within 30 days. An Attorney General opinion in your favor isn’t advisory — it becomes enforceable. Very few states give a requester that.
It costs nothing and needs no lawyer. The Attorney General publishes the decisions, and citing an on-point prior decision in your original request is an efficient way to skip the argument.
Kentucky amended the Act to restrict standing for some out-of-state requesters on certain records, so lead with a Kentucky connection if you have one.
What Kentucky will not give you
- A free public case search. Does not exist. Use the clerk, a courthouse terminal, or the AOC report.
- Expunged records. Kentucky expungement is broad and expunged cases are excluded from the AOC report.
- Driver and vehicle records. Closed under the federal Driver’s Privacy Protection Act.
- Juvenile records. Not public.
- Some records, for out-of-state requesters. Kentucky narrowed standing for certain non-resident requests.
Course
The Ultimate FOIA and Public Records Course
Every state page here tells you what the law says. The course shows you how to write the request, what to do when it comes back gutted, and how to appeal without a lawyer — the part that decides whether you actually get the records.
See the FOIA courseRelated
- Ohio — across the river, 88 county portals
- Indiana — free statewide MyCase to the north
- Missouri — Case.net and MACHS
- Appealing a public records denial
- UCC filings name the lender
Fees and procedures verified August 2026. Clerks change their counter rules more often than the statutes change — call before you drive.