Why a Kentucky Record Check Comes From the Courthouse

The report most Kentucky employers and landlords use is a court product. The Administrative Office of the Courts' background check fact sheet explains that the results are built from state, not federal, court activity, covering case information on file for district court and circuit court in the 120 Kentucky counties, in four case types: traffic, misdemeanor, felony charges and circuit criminal. Each entry shows the county where the case was filed, the case number, the original charge and any amendments, the disposition, the charge and disposition dates and any memo the circuit court clerk added. A case the county has expunged or purged does not appear. The report states on its face that it is Not an Official Court Record, meaning it is not an indictment, judgment or order signed by a judge; the official record stays with the circuit court clerk in the county of filing.

The price is on form AOC-RU-004: $25 by check or money order payable to the Kentucky State Treasurer, whether the request is on yourself or, for a nonprofit, a business or anyone else, on another individual, with the form returned unprocessed if the payment rules are not followed. The reach of the report is set out in the office's own questions: all misdemeanor and traffic cases for at least the last five years, and felonies dating back to 1978. Juvenile, mental health and domestic violence cases, confidential by law, are left out. The circuit court clerks whose cases feed the report are listed by county on the Kentucky county pages.

  • $25: a criminal record report from the Administrative Office of the Courts on yourself or anyone else, by check or money order to the Kentucky State Treasurer.
  • They will know: when a report on another person finds a record, the Records Unit notifies that person and sends them a copy of the results.
  • $20 by mail: the Kentucky State Police name based check, with no online option and an average of 10 business days.
  • 30 days: a case dismissed with prejudice or acquitted on or after July 15, 2020 is expunged automatically after 30 days, traffic cases excepted.

Written by SearchSystems.net from Kentucky's own systems: the Administrative Office of the Courts background checks page, form AOC-RU-004, the Records Unit request for individuals and others, the FastCheck one time record request, the Administrative Office of the Courts expungement certification page, the Kentucky Court of Justice page on requesting court records, the Kentucky State Police background checks page, the Kentucky State Police background check forms page, the Kentucky Offender Online Lookup of the Department of Corrections, the Kentucky Court of Justice docket search, each read on October 15, 2026 by the SearchSystems editorial team.

Third party notification

The rule that sets Kentucky apart is stated under its own heading on the fact sheet. If you request a report on another person and a record is found, the Records Unit will notify that person that you requested his or her criminal record report, and will also send that person a copy of the results. Reports are public information, so no consent is required and anyone may order one, but the subject learns who asked. Someone who suspects an entry is wrong, incomplete or out of date calls the Records Unit at 800-928-6381; some problems are fixed there, while others need the circuit court clerk in the county where the case was filed, and employers with doubts about a report use the same number. The office does not interpret reports and suggests legal help for reading one.

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Ordering: FastCheck, the drive through and the mail

Online requests run through FastCheck, where registered users order reports and retrieve them online for 30 days after processing, and the one time request lets an unregistered user place a single order, giving at least a Social Security number or date of birth for the subject, and receive the report by mail. Requests are processed in the order received, cannot be expedited for a fee, and the status of a one time request is not shown online.

In person, the Records Unit serves a drive through window at 1001 Vandalay Drive, Frankfort, Monday to Friday from 8 am to 4 pm, where ten or more requests take at least an hour; since April 1, 2020 it has taken no cash, accepting American Express, Discover, MasterCard, Visa and most debit cards with a fee of 2.25 percent or $2.50, whichever is greater, or a check or money order. Mailed requests on the RU forms go to the Records Unit at the same address, and repeat customers can open a prepaid account funded by check or money order.

The Kentucky background check guide explains the licensing agency form, AOC-RU-005, and the employer side.

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The State Police check: $20, by mail, with permission

The Kentucky State Police run a different file. Their background checks page offers the general public a Kentucky name based check for $20 by check or money order to the KY State Treasurer, with no fingerprints, on individuals with their permission, by mail or walk in, taking an average of 10 business days by mail. The forms page is blunt that the process must be completed by mail and that there is no way to request a check online, and it publishes a separate form for each purpose: employment where no statute requires a check, adoption and foster care outside the Cabinet, positions with disciplinary power over a minor, long term care facilities, licensed child care, emigration, fire and ambulance services, housing assistance, secondary metal recyclers, outfitter and guide licenses, and a personal review of your own history.

Fingerprint based state and FBI checks are reserved for agencies with a statutory requirement and are taken at IdentoGO locations, with any police fingerprinting fee of up to $10 on top. The Records Division was operating from 1050 US 127, Frankfort, during renovation of its Louisville Road office when read, and answers at 502-227-8700.

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Expungement: automatic for the cleared, $40 for the rest

The courts' expungement certification page describes an automatic expungement that covers most arrests that failed in court: all cases dismissed with prejudice or acquitted on or after July 15, 2020 are expunged automatically after 30 days, traffic cases excepted, with no action by the defendant, who may object in writing within 30 days of the dismissal if they prefer the record to stand. The order goes to the defendant or counsel, the county and commonwealth attorneys, the Kentucky State Police, the arresting agency and the local jail, and the State Police notify any federal agency; a defendant who needs it sent elsewhere tells the court within 60 days.

Everything else starts with an expungement certification from the Administrative Office of the Courts, for $40 by card online through a registered account, by check or money order through the mail, or at the drive through in Frankfort, after which the certification packet and the proper petition are filed with the circuit court clerk in the county where the charge was filed. For most Class D felony convictions, KRS 431.073 allows an application to vacate and expunge no sooner than five years after completion of the sentence or of probation or parole, whichever is later; a granted application vacates the judgment, dismisses the charges and expunges the records of every other agency, including law enforcement. The office and the clerks cannot give legal advice on felony expungements.

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Court records live with the circuit court clerk

The Administrative Office of the Courts, for all its reports, does not keep court case records and says so on its request court records page: it is not the source of those records and cannot provide access to them. Every request for a citation, pleading, order, recording or transcript begins with the clerk of the court that heard the case, the Office of Circuit Court Clerk in that county for circuit, district, family and business court matters, and the Court of Appeals or Supreme Court clerk for appeals.

Older files may be at a records facility or destroyed under the retention schedules, and a file at the State Records Center is pulled only by the case and file locator numbers the clerk supplies, never by name or Social Security number. The docket search at kcoj.kycourts.net generates a day's docket by county and division and warns that its information cannot be used for employment, licensing or eligibility for government programs. The Kentucky court records guide lists each clerk.

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KOOL and the jails

The Department of Corrections' Kentucky Offender Online Lookup searches people in state custody or under supervision by name, alias, DOC or PID number, supervision status, location, county, age, race, gender, offense, statute, indictment, conviction and crime dates, and escape or abscond dates, with photographs optional and a warning that misusing the information to harass an offender is a crime. It also carries a recidivism search giving the likelihood of reincarceration two and three years after release by group.

County jails, where an arrestee sits before and during a case, are run by jailers elected in each county, and the Kentucky inmate search guide covers those rosters.

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Citations, jail files and the offender registry

The court report and the State Police check are both summaries. The arrest citation, the booking photograph and the jail record stay with the arresting agency and the county jail, and are requested under the Open Records Act described in the Kentucky public records law guide; the State Police have their own open records request page for trooper reports. An automatic expungement order reaches those agencies because the court sends it to the arresting agency and the jail, which is why the office lists them among the recipients.

Registered sex offenders, not marked on a court report, are listed publicly through the State Police registry covered in the Kentucky sex offender registry guide.

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Questions about Kentucky arrest records

Can I order a Kentucky criminal record report on someone else?
Yes, for $25 from the Administrative Office of the Courts; criminal record reports are public information. If a record is found, the Records Unit notifies that person and sends them a copy.
How far back does the court report go?
Misdemeanor and traffic cases for at least the last five years, and felonies back to 1978, from district and circuit courts in all 120 counties.
Is the State Police check available online?
No. The $20 name based check is completed by mail only, with the subject's permission, and takes an average of 10 business days.
Is a dismissed arrest expunged automatically?
Yes, for cases dismissed with prejudice or acquitted on or after July 15, 2020, 30 days after the dismissal, excluding traffic cases, unless the defendant objects within those 30 days.
What does an expungement certification cost?
Forty dollars, online by card, by mail with a check or money order, or at the Frankfort drive through, before the petition is filed with the circuit court clerk.
Can I pay cash at the Records Unit?
No. Since April 1, 2020 the drive through accepts cards, with a 2.25 percent or $2.50 fee, and checks or money orders only.

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Kentucky readers can continue with the Kentucky court records guide for the circuit court clerks, the Kentucky background check guide for employers and licensing agencies, the Kentucky inmate search guide for KOOL and the county jails, the Kentucky sex offender registry guide, the Kentucky public records law guide for arrest citations and jail records, and the Kentucky county pages.