Search Union County Court Records

How to Search Union County Court Records

Union County trial-court case records start with the Kentucky Court of Justice Union County page and the Office of Circuit Court Clerk. Kentucky states that circuit court clerks manage records for Circuit, Family, District, and Business courts. For Union County, the Circuit Court Clerk is Jo Sheridan at the Union County Courthouse Annex, 121 South Morgan Street, P.O. Box 59, Morganfield, KY 42437. Circuit Court matters can be checked through 270-389-1811, and District Court matters through 270-389-0800.

The statewide Request Court Records instructions make a key point: the Administrative Office of the Courts does not maintain the court case file for public copy requests. The request starts with the clerk of the court that heard the case. If an older file has moved to a record facility, the clerk gives the case and file locator numbers needed for a Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives request. Stored records cannot be searched there by name or Social Security number.

1. Identify the court level before searching. Circuit Court handles felonies, divorce, civil matters over the District Court limit, contested probate, and appeals from District Court.
2. Use District Court for traffic, misdemeanors, violations, small claims, probate of wills, arraignments, and felony probable-cause hearings.
3. Check Kentucky Easy Pay for payable cases, citations, court costs, and balances that can be searched by case, citation, or party.
4. Use KYeCourts only if you have an account that permits CourtNet or eFiling access.
5. Call or visit the Circuit Court Clerk for certified copies, full file review, sealed-record questions, and older files that do not appear online.

Union County Court Records Search Fields

Easy Pay is the public payment-oriented search channel. It is useful when the goal is to find a payable Union County case, citation, or court-cost balance, but it is not a full document portal. KYeCourts is broader because the public login page says the system gives access to criminal and civil cases filed with Kentucky courts, yet the login is account-gated. For many public users, the practical path is Easy Pay plus the local clerk.

Types of Union County Court Records

Union County court records are split by jurisdiction. Civil claims over $5,000, divorce, felonies, real-property title disputes, injunctions, contested probate, and appeals from District Court are Circuit Court matters. District Court covers civil cases of $5,000 or less, small claims of $2,500 or less, traffic, misdemeanors, violations, juvenile matters, probate of wills, arraignments, and felony probable-cause hearings. Family Court is a Circuit Court division for family and child-related cases.

Court records should not be confused with County Clerk records. The County Clerk handles land records, marriage licenses, recorded wills, liens, plats, notary bonds, motor vehicle licensing, elections, and delinquent tax functions. A deed, marriage license, or recorded will may be searched through County Clerk channels, while the court case file for a divorce, criminal case, traffic ticket, or probate case starts with the Circuit Court Clerk.

• Civil records can include complaints, answers, motions, orders, judgments, garnishments, liens, and releases.
• Criminal court records include citations, complaints, indictments, bond orders, pleas, hearing entries, dispositions, sentencing orders, and payment records.
• Family and divorce records may include petitions, orders, decrees, support entries, and confidential child-related material.
• Probate records may include wills, petitions, fiduciary bonds, inventories, accountings, settlements, and contested-estate filings.
• Traffic records may include citation number, charge, court date, plea, disposition, fine, court costs, and payment history.

For Kentucky appellate cases, the Kentucky appellate C-Track public access system is a separate channel from Union County trial-court files.

That separation matters because trial-court files are requested through the Union County Circuit Court Clerk, while Court of Appeals and Supreme Court records follow appellate access rules.

What Union County Court Records Show

A Union County court record can be brief or detailed, depending on the case type and access channel. KCOJ defines court case records as official documentation of a court proceeding or case. The file may include criminal citations, pleadings, motions, orders, evidence, reports, dockets, video recordings, and transcripts. Payment-oriented tools may show less, usually enough to identify the case, citation, balance, or payable status.

Note: A docket entry proves that an event was recorded, but it may not show the full text of the pleading, order, or exhibit.

Public Access for Union County Court Records

Kentucky's open-records policy favors access, but court files still follow court rules, statutes, and clerk procedures. KRS 61.871 states the policy of free and open examination, while KRS 61.872 gives Kentucky residents the right to inspect public records unless an exemption applies. For Union County court records, the clerk who heard the case remains the access point.

KRS 61.874 addresses copies and commercial-purpose statements, and KRS 61.878 lists records that may be withheld or redacted. County Clerk records have their own written open-records policy, including hand delivery, mail, or fax submission and no email requests, but that policy does not replace the court clerk process for state court case files.

Restricted Union County Court Records

Not every court record is open in full. Juvenile case records are confidential under KRS 610.340 unless disclosure is authorized by law or court order. Adoption records, mental-health proceedings, sealed cases, expunged cases, protected addresses, Social Security numbers, financial account numbers, and medical or psychological material can be removed from public access or redacted from copies.

Expungement is a specific Kentucky court process. KRS 431.079 defines expungement as removal or deletion from official state-performed background checks, and KRS 431.073 covers certain felony conviction expungements. For Union County cases, questions about filing, eligibility, or a signed order should go through the court that handled the case.

Union County Court Record Requests

Union County has more than one access channel because not all court records serve the same need. A person paying a citation may use Easy Pay. A party who needs a certified copy should contact the Circuit Court Clerk. A researcher looking for an old file may need locator numbers from the clerk before using the State Records Center. A person checking a Court of Appeals matter should use the appellate system, not the Union County clerk.

Kentucky also has specialty-court programs for drug court, mental health court, and veterans treatment court. The Specialty Courts contact form asks for name, address, city, state, county, phone, email, subject, and comments. No Union-specific certified specialty-court page was found in the research, so referrals should be verified through the local court team or statewide specialty-court office.

The specialty-court channel is relevant only when a criminal case has a treatment-court referral or order in the court record.