Pendleton County Circuit Court Role
Kentucky's trial-court structure is centered on Circuit Court and District Court. For this project, the resolved primary trial court name is Circuit Court, even though the assigned filename remains district-court.html. Circuit Court is the broad trial court for Pendleton County. It handles felonies, capital offenses, civil actions over $5,000, divorces, adoptions, termination of parental rights, contested probate, title disputes, injunctions, writs, and appeals from District Court or some administrative agencies.
Pendleton County is in the 18th Judicial Circuit and the 18th Judicial District with Harrison, Nicholas, and Robertson Counties. The researched Kentucky Court of Justice county page lists William J. Verax IV as Circuit Court Judge, 18th Judicial Circuit, Division 1; Heather Fryman as Chief Circuit Judge, Family Court, 18th Judicial Circuit, Division 2; and Gregory Coulson as District Court Judge, 18th Judicial District. Michael D. Redden is the Pendleton County Circuit Court Clerk.
Pendleton County Trial Court Table
The required trial-court table is adapted to Kentucky's structure. Pendleton County does not have a list of separate numbered local trial courts in the research. Instead, the researched court units are the 18th Judicial Circuit, the Family Court division of Circuit Court where assigned, the 18th Judicial District, and the Circuit Court Clerk's local office. All of these practical court-record paths use the Pendleton County Judicial Center for local court-counter access.
| Court Number | Type | Address | Phone |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18th Judicial Circuit, Division 1 | Circuit Court, general jurisdiction | 120 Ridgeway Ave., Falmouth, KY 41040 | 859-654-3347 |
| 18th Judicial Circuit, Division 2 | Family Court division of Circuit Court where assigned | 120 Ridgeway Ave., Falmouth, KY 41040 | 859-654-3347 |
| 18th Judicial District | District Court, limited jurisdiction | 120 Ridgeway Ave., Falmouth, KY 41040 | 859-654-3347 |
| Office of Circuit Court Clerk | Local court records, filings, copies, payments, and dockets | 120 Ridgeway Ave., P.O. Box 69, Falmouth, KY 41040 | 859-654-3347 |
Circuit Court vs District Court
Pendleton County court users often need to separate Circuit Court, District Court, and Family Court functions before searching records or checking dockets. Kentucky does not use a county court or justice-of-the-peace court column for Pendleton County trial-court case work in the researched material. The relevant comparison is Circuit Court, District Court, and Family Court as a Circuit Court division.
| Point | Circuit Court | District Court | Family Court Division |
|---|---|---|---|
| Civil cases | Civil actions over $5,000, title disputes, injunctions, and writs. | Civil cases up to $5,000 and small claims up to $2,500. | Family-law civil matters such as dissolution, custody, support, and paternity. |
| Criminal role | Felonies and capital offenses after the case reaches Circuit Court. | Traffic, misdemeanors, violations, ordinances, arraignments, and felony probable-cause hearings. | Domestic violence and family-related matters within its assigned jurisdiction. |
| Probate role | Contested probate. | Probate of wills and routine estate administration. | Not the main probate path in the research. |
| Record contact | Circuit Court Clerk at the Judicial Center. | Circuit Court Clerk at the Judicial Center. | Circuit Court Clerk at the Judicial Center. |
| Access limit | Sealed, expunged, adoption, and some family records may be restricted. | Juvenile and mental health matters are restricted or sensitive. | Adoption, dependency, neglect, abuse, juvenile, and protected family matters may be confidential. |
Pendleton County Case Flow
Case flow depends on the case type. A felony may start in District Court for arraignment or a probable-cause hearing before proceeding to Circuit Court. A misdemeanor or traffic case can remain in District Court. A divorce or adoption belongs in Circuit or Family Court. A routine probate matter starts in District Court, but a contested probate dispute belongs in Circuit Court. Appeals from District Court go to Circuit Court, while appeals from Circuit Court go to the Kentucky Court of Appeals and potentially the Kentucky Supreme Court.
Criminal flow: Citation or arrest › District Court arraignment or probable-cause event › Circuit Court felony filing when applicable › pretrial events › plea or trial › disposition › sentencing › appeal.
Civil flow: Complaint or petition filed › service and answer › motions or hearings › settlement, trial, or order › judgment › post-judgment steps or appeal.
Probate flow: Locate original will › file District Court probate petition › appointment of executor or administrator › estate administration › contested issue moves to Circuit Court when required.
Pendleton Circuit Court Divisions
Circuit Court in Pendleton County handles the broadest set of local trial-court matters. Felony criminal cases and capital offenses are Circuit Court matters after the proper charging stage. Higher-value civil disputes, real-property title disputes, injunctions, writs, divorce, adoption, termination of parental rights, and contested probate also belong in Circuit Court. The Circuit Court page for Kentucky describes this court as the general-jurisdiction court, which means it can hear case types not assigned solely to a lower court.
Family Court is a Circuit Court division where established or assigned. The research identifies the 18th Judicial Circuit Family Court Division 2 with Chief Circuit Judge Heather Fryman. Family Court handles dissolution, support, custody and visitation, paternity, adoption, domestic violence, dependency, neglect, abuse, termination of parental rights, runaway and truancy matters, and other family or children issues. Some records in those case types may be public only in limited form, and some are confidential.
District Court is not the resolved primary trial court name in the Pendleton County structure map, but it is essential to the local trial-court system. District Court handles traffic offenses, misdemeanors, violations, ordinances, small claims, civil cases up to $5,000, probate of wills, juvenile matters, mental commitments, arraignments, and felony probable-cause hearings. This is why a Pendleton County Circuit Court records search may still start with District Court information for the first events in a criminal, traffic, probate, or small-claims matter.
Pendleton Circuit Court Records
Pendleton County does not have a researched county-built court case database. Public trial-court case information is searched through KYeCourts public records. Docket schedules are searched through the Kentucky docket portal. Eligible fines, costs, and citation or case payment searches can use Kentucky ePay. For copies, certified copies, older files, and records not found online, the correct local contact is the Circuit Court Clerk.
The June 30, 2026 research captured a KYeCourts notice that civil filing fees for Circuit and District Courts increase effective July 1, 2026 under Supreme Court Orders 2026-15 and 2026-18. That notice is relevant to new filings in Pendleton County Circuit Court and District Court, but it does not provide a Pendleton-specific fee table in the research.
Public record access still has limits. Juvenile court records are restricted by KRS 610.320. Kentucky's expungement law, KRS 431.073, can limit public access to eligible felony and misdemeanor records after a court grants expungement. Open-records exemptions under KRS 61.878 may also block or redact certain information.
For broader search detail, the Pendleton County court records page covers the party, case, citation, and business search fields in more depth.
Pendleton County Court Contact
The local court office is the Pendleton County Judicial Center at 120 Ridgeway Avenue, P.O. Box 69, Falmouth, Kentucky 41040. The Kentucky Court of Justice county page lists the Office of Circuit Court Clerk at that location, names Michael D. Redden as Circuit Court Clerk, and lists the office phone as 859-654-3347. Public hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., with Saturday and Sunday closed. The court page lists on-site parking and payment methods of cash, check, and money order. It also links ePay for eligible fees, fines, and costs.
Pendleton County Judicial Center
Office of Circuit Court Clerk
120 Ridgeway Ave., P.O. Box 69
Falmouth, KY 41040
859-654-3347
Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
Security screening rules, phone rules, recording rules, bag policies, public-transit routes, and detailed accessibility entrance information were not located in the official sources reviewed. A person visiting for a hearing, filing, or records request should confirm those details with the clerk before arrival.