Kentucky Federal Judicial Structure
Federal court records in Kentucky are maintained separately from state-court records. Kentucky is divided into two U.S. District Courts (covering different groups of counties) and both feed into the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit based in Cincinnati, Ohio.
If you are looking for state-court records instead, see our Kentucky Court Records page.
U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Kentucky
The Eastern District covers 67 counties in the eastern half of Kentucky, with courthouses in Ashland, Covington, Frankfort, Lexington, London, and Pikeville.
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Kentucky (official site)
- PACER — electronic case filing & lookup (fee-based)
- Case records older than ~1999 may require in-person requests at the relevant divisional office.
U.S. District Court — Western District of Kentucky
The Western District covers 53 counties in the western half of Kentucky, with courthouses in Louisville, Bowling Green, Owensboro, and Paducah.
U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit
Federal appeals from both Kentucky district courts are heard by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, which also covers Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee. Published opinions are freely available on the court's website.
U.S. Bankruptcy Courts — Kentucky
- Bankruptcy Court — Eastern District of Kentucky
- Bankruptcy Court — Western District of Kentucky
- PACER access required for full case records; limited case lookups are free through each court's RSS feed.
Tip — PACER Fee Exemption
PACER charges $0.10 per page for electronic access, capped at $3.00 per document. Fees under $30 per quarter are waived automatically — meaning occasional researchers typically pay nothing. Academic researchers and some pro-bono attorneys can apply for fuller fee exemptions directly through the court.