Kentucky's standard background check is a criminal record report sold by the Administrative Office of the Courts, the AOC, from CourtNet, the state court system's case database. It is public information: anyone may order a report on anyone, and the AOC says the report covers state court activity from the district and circuit courts of all 120 counties, with no federal information.
Two things make the Kentucky report unusual. When a report on another person turns up a record, the AOC Records Unit notifies that person that you asked and sends them a copy of the result. And the report is stamped Not an Official Court Record, because the official record is the file kept by the circuit court clerk in the county where the case was filed.
- What it covers: traffic, misdemeanor, felony and circuit criminal cases: county, case number, original and amended charges, charge date, disposition and disposition date; all misdemeanor and traffic cases for at least five years and felonies back to 1978.
- Online: FastCheck for registered users, who retrieve results online, or a one time request delivered by U.S. mail.
- In person or by mail: the drive-thru window at 1001 Vandalay Drive, Frankfort, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., or form AOC-RU-004 mailed to the Records Unit with a $25.00 check or money order payable to the Kentucky State Treasurer.
- Left out: juvenile, mental health and domestic violence cases, cases expunged or purged by the county, and anything federal.
Written by SearchSystems.net from Kentucky's own systems: the Kentucky Court of Justice Background Checks page, the AOC Records Unit request form AOC-RU-004, the AOC licensing agency request form AOC-RU-005, the FastCheck individual record request, each read on October 14, 2026 by the SearchSystems editorial team.
What the AOC report contains
The AOC's background check fact sheet describes the report as case information on file for district court and circuit court in the 120 Kentucky counties, drawn from state, not federal, court activity. It covers four case types: traffic, the T cases; misdemeanor, the M cases; felony charges, the F cases; and circuit criminal, the CR cases. For each case it gives the county of origin, the case number, the original charge and any amendments, the disposition, the charge date, the disposition date and any memos the local circuit court clerk thought necessary. The AOC's FAQ sums up the reach as all misdemeanor and traffic cases for at least the last five years and felonies dating back to 1978.
Cases that have been expunged or purged by the county where they were filed do not appear. Confidential case types are never included: juvenile cases, mental health cases and domestic violence cases. And every report states that it is Not an Official Court Record, meaning it is not an indictment, judgment or order signed by a judge and entered by the clerk; the official record lives in the Office of Circuit Court Clerk in the county of filing, which is also where some corrections have to be made.
Anyone may order one, and the subject hears about it
Criminal record reports are public information, and the AOC answers yes to whether you can request a record on another person. Its third party notification rule follows: if you request a report on someone else and a record is found, the AOC Records Unit notifies that person that you requested their criminal record report and sends them a copy of the results. The form asks the purpose of the request, with boxes for employment, criminal investigation, screening housing applicants, volunteer or care over a juvenile, licensing and other, and warns that falsifying the request information can be prosecuted under KRS 523.100.
FastCheck and the one time online request
FastCheck is the AOC's online portal. Registered users order reports and retrieve the results online once processed; they receive an email when a report is ready, though the AOC says email can fail and asks them to check back, and results stay available for 30 days. Registered users can watch pending requests, which show a Processing status. A one time request places a single order and receives the report by U.S. mail, with no online status. The individual request form asks for the requester's contact details and the subject's name, alias or maiden name, address, and at least one of a Social Security number or date of birth, with the driver's license number optional. Payment is by American Express, Discover, MasterCard or Visa or most debit cards, with a card fee of 2.25 percent of the transaction or $2.50, whichever is greater. Requests are processed in the order received, response time depends on the volume ahead of yours, and no request can be expedited for an extra charge.
The drive-thru window and mailed requests
In person, the AOC Records Division serves a drive-thru window at the Administrative Office of the Courts, 1001 Vandalay Drive, Frankfort, Monday through Friday except state holidays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; a batch of ten or more requests takes at least an hour. Since April 1, 2020 the division takes no cash in person, only the cards listed above or a check or money order payable to the Kentucky State Treasurer.
By mail, the AOC-RU-004 form goes to the Administrative Office of the Courts, Records Unit, 1001 Vandalay Drive, Frankfort, KY 40601, with the fee by check or money order only, payable to the Kentucky State Treasurer; a request that does not follow the procedure is returned unprocessed. The form sets the fee at $25.00 for an individual requesting their own record and $25.00 for a nonprofit, commercial or other requester checking an individual, and tells a self requester to call if no response arrives within 30 days. A separate form, AOC-RU-005, serves an individual requesting their own record for a license, at the same $25.00. The Records Unit answers at 502-573-1682 or 800-928-6381, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern, and at records@kycourts.net.
Prepaid accounts for repeat requesters
Employers, agencies and others who order often can open a prepaid account with the Records Division: funds are added by check or money order and each request's cost is deducted from the balance as it is submitted. Accounts are set up by calling 800-928-6381 or emailing the unit.
Reading the report and fixing errors
The AOC is not permitted to interpret what a report contains and suggests legal help for questions about an entry. An employer who doubts a report's accuracy calls the Records Unit at 800-928-6381; a person who believes their own record is incorrect, incomplete or out of date also starts there, since the unit can fix some issues itself and refers the rest to the Office of Circuit Court Clerk in the county where the case was filed, which holds the official record. Technical trouble with the site goes to the AOC Service Desk at 502-573-2350.
What a Kentucky court report is not
The AOC report is a court index, not a police repository record. It shows cases filed in Kentucky's state courts, so an arrest that never produced a court case is not in it, and a federal case is never in it. It omits the confidential case types and whatever the county has expunged or purged, and it is explicitly not the official court record. A clean report means no state court case under the identifiers supplied; a hit is confirmed with the circuit court clerk's file before anything turns on it.
Questions about background checks in Kentucky
Related Kentucky records
The court report is one of the Kentucky records this site covers: the Kentucky court records guide explains the clerks' official files behind each entry, the arrest records guide covers what a booking makes public, the inmate search guide finds people in Department of Corrections custody, and the Kentucky county pages list each circuit court clerk and sheriff.