Kentucky Criminal Records

Choose the Kentucky record product before ordering

Kentucky has more than one criminal-record product. The Administrative Office of the Courts produces a court-based report from District and Circuit Court information in all 120 counties. Kentucky State Police has separate permission-based and authorized fingerprint-check routes. A signed judgment or dismissal is instead an individual case document obtained from the clerk holding that proceeding.

Ask the receiving organization which product and certification it requires. A cheaper name report may not satisfy a statutory fingerprint requirement, and a certified case order may answer an outcome question without supplying a whole state report. Keep the agency and product name on your request so that a fee or mailing address from another route is not used by mistake.

Understand what the AOC report can and cannot establish

AOC describes misdemeanor and traffic coverage for at least five years and felony coverage back to 1978. Federal information, expunged or purged cases and confidential juvenile, mental-health and domestic-violence case types are excluded. The report is marked Not an Official Court Record because it is a report rather than the actual indictment, judgment or order in the local file.

Read original charges, amendments and dispositions together. If you request another person’s report and a record is found, AOC notifies that person and sends them a copy. Do not promise that the inquiry will remain undisclosed. A missing result should be described within the report’s coverage and identifiers rather than as a national clearance.

Choose online retrieval or postal delivery deliberately

Registered FastCheck users retrieve processed results online; One-Time Request orders are delivered by U.S. mail. FastCheck results remain available for 30 days. Requests are handled in order and volume affects timing; AOC does not offer paid expediting. Download a completed result promptly and retain the request reference instead of relying entirely on an email notification.

If using the paper route, the AOC RU-004 form asks for name, aliases or maiden names, date of birth, address and identifier fields, plus requester/contact information and purpose. Enter accurate information and do not guess a missing identifier. The linked form instructs requesters to contact the Records Unit if no response arrives within 30 days; that is a follow-up point, not a guaranteed processing promise.

Pay the AOC report charge using the selected route

AOC’s linked RU-004 form lists $25 for a report on yourself or another individual, with check or money order payable to Kentucky State Treasurer. Mail it to AOC Records Unit, 1001 Vandalay Drive, Frankfort, KY 40601. Keep a copy of the completed form and payment details so that an incomplete or returned request can be traced.

Card payments carry 2.25% of the transaction or $2.50, whichever is greater. The AOC drive-through at 1001 Vandalay Drive operates weekdays, 8 a.m.–4 p.m., except state holidays, and does not take cash. The published charge and availability do not guarantee that a large order will be ready immediately.

Use the separate KSP process when the recipient requests it

KSP offers an adult name-based history with the subject’s permission for $20 by check or money order to KY State Treasurer. Its current page permits mail or walk-in submission and gives an average of 10 business days for mail. The Records Division is temporarily at 1050 US 127, Frankfort, KY 40601 during renovations; call 502-227-8700 before visiting or confirming mailing arrangements.

Choose the purpose-specific KSP form, such as employment or personal review, from its background-check forms page. The forms page describes mail-only handling and no ordinary online request, while the background-check overview also mentions walk-in service; confirm the available route for your form. Do not send a KSP form to AOC or substitute AOC’s $25 payment.

KSP’s state-and-FBI fingerprint route is for organizations or agencies with statutory authorization and uses IdentoGo. Obtain the correct instructions from the requesting agency or board before arranging fingerprints. A public online court search does not supply that authorized fingerprint result.

Request the actual judgment from the county clerk

For a Circuit, District, Family or Business Court case, start with the Office of Circuit Court Clerk in the county that handled it. Kentucky’s court-record page supplies the county directory. Identify the case number, defendant, approximate year and exact order or filing. Ask for ordinary or certified copies and the delivery format required by the recipient.

Possible records include citations, pleadings, motions, orders, dockets, recordings and transcripts, but availability depends on the record and applicable restrictions. Ask the clerk for a copy/certification quote and whether the document can be sent electronically or by mail. The AOC report fee is not a per-page court-copy fee, and the report unit does not maintain the underlying case file.

Follow a storage referral using case and locator numbers

A file may remain with the clerk, have moved to a records facility or have been destroyed under an applicable retention schedule. Kentucky Courts says to start with the clerk, who can identify the facility and supply the case and file-locator numbers for an available transferred record. Do not choose a facility solely from the age of the case.

For a referred State Records Center file, submit those numbers with its records request form to [email protected] or call 502-564-3617. That collection cannot be searched by name or Social Security number alone. For a Department for Libraries and Archives referral, follow that institution’s instructions for the record type. Keep the referral details in case the physical file and online report differ.

Ask for correction with the precise disputed entry

For an AOC report that seems incorrect, incomplete or outdated, call the Records Unit at 800-928-6381, weekdays 8 a.m.–4 p.m. Eastern. Some issues can be corrected there; others require the original county clerk. Technical FastCheck problems go to 502-573-2350. Explain whether the problem is identity, a missing disposition or an inaccessible report.

Retain the unchanged report and the court order or agency response supporting the correction. Ask which office must update the source entry and whether the recipient needs a freshly issued report afterward. A pending request for correction does not itself amend a court judgment, and record sealing or expungement is a separate legal process rather than a way to edit a downloaded report.