Kentucky Court Cases are heard and decided at the different levels of Kentucky Courts organized in a particular structure. The courts in the state of Kentucky are the District Courts, the Circuit Courts, the Courts of Appeals, and the Supreme Court. The first three have particular areas of jurisdiction while the Kentucky Supreme Court enjoys supreme authority under the court system.
Kentucky District Courts serve as the basic pillars in the state judiciary network. Only particular kinds of cases are dealt with at these courts. There are 60 districts in Kentucky and 116 district judges. The number of judges of Kentucky District Courts assigned to a district varies according to the population of the county or counties within the district as well as the number of cases that need to be heard.
The following types of cases are dealt with at the District Courts of Kentucky:
- City and county ordinances
- Juvenile cases
- Misdemeanors
- Small claims and civil cases (within $4,000)
- Traffic related offenses
- Domestic abuse and violence
- Felony (preliminary hearings only)
- Probate of wills
Circuit Courts also form an important part of Kentucky Courts. These courts have the power to issue a number of documents including writs of mandamus, writs of prohibition, injunctions, etc. They also have the capacity to hear appeals directed from administrative agencies as well as district courts. An important segment of the Circuit Court is the Family Court.
Kentucky Circuit Courts jurisdiction is limited to cases of felonies, probates of wills (contested), capital offenses, land disputes, and civil cases (above the $4,000 limit). The Family Court has jurisdiction over matters involving child custody; dissolution of marriage; maintenance and support; visitation; adoption; equitable distribution of property in cases involving dissolution; and, termination of parental rights.
The chief responsibility of the Kentucky Court of Appeals is to review any case decision taken at the District or Circuit Court of the state if any of the parties is not satisfied with the decision. It is not a court where the case is retried; it is just where the case decision is reviewed to check for any errors. However the right to appeal is limited and is not extended to criminal case acquittals or divorce cases.
The Court of Appeals of Kentucky has 14 judges. They are chosen from the 7 appellate court districts of the state, 2 from each. 3 judges form a panel to hear, review and decide a case. The decision of the majority is taken into account. These judges do not have any permanent location; they travel from one location to another in order to hear and judge appeals.
The Kentucky Supreme Court is the highest in the hierarchy of Kentucky Courts. The appellate cases and trial cases are heard at the Supreme Court as the last resort. Certain cases involving death sentence or life imprisonment are directly given to the Supreme Court for trial. There are 7 Justices in the Kentucky Supreme Court, among them 1 is chosen as the Chief Justice of the Commonwealth.
All Kentucky Court Cases are documented and form part of the official records. There are a number of online sources from which these Kentucky Court Records can be accessed.
