View Fayette County Court Dockets

What Is a Court Docket in Fayette County

A court docket is a running list of events and filings tied to a case or a court session. Each entry records something that happened: a motion was filed, a hearing was held, a judgment was entered, or a case was continued. The docket is not the same as the full case file. It is a log, not a collection of documents. For any one Fayette County case, the docket shows the skeleton of what occurred and when. The full file, which includes the actual pleadings, orders, exhibits, and transcripts, is a separate thing that requires a visit to the clerk's office or authorized electronic access.

There are two main ways to think about dockets in Fayette County. The first is the case-level docket, which tracks everything that has happened in a single case. This is what you see through CourtNet or KYeCourts after logging in. The second is the session-level docket, also called a court calendar or weekly schedule. This lists every matter scheduled to be heard by a particular judge on a particular day. The Fayette District Court publishes a public weekly schedule that falls into the second category. It shows docket types by judge, division, day, and courtroom, but it does not display individual case numbers or party names. Both types are useful; which one you need depends on whether you want to know what happened in a specific case or when a specific type of hearing is held.

The Kentucky Court of Justice defines a court case record as the official documentation of a proceeding, covering legal arguments, evidence, and how the court ruled. A docket entry is one line within that documentation. Common docket entry types in Fayette County include arraignment, preliminary hearing, motion hour, order entered, judgment, continuance, trial, plea, sentencing, probation violation, fine payment, and civil motion hour.

Fayette District Court Weekly Schedule

The most accessible public docket resource for Fayette County is the Fayette District Court Weekly Schedule, published on the Kentucky Court of Justice website. It lists each of the five District Court judges, their division number, the courtroom they use, the days they hear each docket type, and the times hearings are scheduled. This schedule does not display party names or case numbers. It is a calendar framework, not a searchable case database. But it tells you exactly when felony preliminary hearings, misdemeanor retrials, eviction hearings, arraignments, drug court, mental health court, and other dockets are held each week.

The five District Court judges and their divisions are: Judge Denotra Spruill Gunther (Division 1), Chief Judge T. Bruce Bell (Division 2), Judge Lindsay Hughes Thurston (Division 3), Judge Melissa Moore Murphy (Division 4), and Judge John Lindsay Tackett (Division 5). Each division covers specific docket types on specific days of the week. Courtrooms used are numbered 2 through 6 in the District Courthouse at 150 North Limestone. Knowing which division handles a particular type of case, and which courtroom that division uses, is practical information for anyone tracking a court date or attending a hearing.

Note: Docket times reflect the public weekly schedule and may shift due to judicial assignment changes, court closures, or specialty court calendars. Confirm current scheduling through the Fayette Circuit Court Clerk or the Kentucky Court of Justice county page.

What a Fayette County Docket Entry Shows

A docket entry in a Fayette County case record has several standard fields. These fields appear whether the case is in Circuit Court, Family Court, or District Court. The specific content varies by case type, but the structure is consistent. When you access a case through CourtNet/KYeCourts or review it at the clerk's office, each docket line will show you the type of event, when it happened, and often which party or attorney made the filing.

Case numbers and party names are not shown on the public Fayette District weekly schedule. They appear only in CourtNet or in the physical case file. If you need to confirm that a specific person has a hearing on a specific day, the weekly schedule alone will not tell you that. You need to either use an authorized CourtNet account or contact the clerk's division that handles the case type.

How to Find a Fayette County Court Date

Finding a specific court date in Fayette County takes a few steps. The process depends on whether you know the case number or only the person's name, and on which court handled the matter. Kentucky's system is login-gated at the online level, so the path differs from states with fully open, anonymous docket searches. That said, there are real options, and the steps below lay them out.

1. Identify the court and case type. Felony and high-value civil cases are Circuit Court. Divorce, custody, and adoption go through Family Court. Traffic, misdemeanor, small claims, eviction, probate, mental health, and juvenile matters are District Court. The right court determines which clerk division and which part of the weekly schedule applies.
2. Check the Fayette District Court Weekly Schedule. If you want to know when a certain type of hearing is held, for example felony preliminary hearings or eviction dockets, the public schedule at kycourts.gov gives the day and time by judge and division. This does not confirm a specific person's date, but it tells you the hearing window.
3. Use the Kentucky Court of Justice court date lookup. The KY Court of Justice homepage links a "Find a Court Date" tool through the kcoj.kycourts.net system. Public access to case-specific dates through this system may require registration, but it is the official online channel.
4. Register for KYeCourts / CourtNet. The KYeCourts login page accepts new users through the "Register Now!" link. After registration, authorized users can search case records by party name or case number across the Kentucky court system, including Fayette County Circuit and District cases.
5. Call or visit the relevant clerk division. For Circuit Criminal cases, phone 859-246-2224. For District Criminal/Traffic, phone 859-246-2228. For Civil Division, phone 859-246-2240. For Small Claims, phone 859-246-2244. For Probate, phone 859-246-2242. Staff can confirm whether a case is calendared and on what date.
6. Review in person at the Appeals and Records Division. The Fayette Circuit Court Clerk maintains public terminals and copiers at Suite C-33, 120 North Limestone, where attorneys and members of the public can review court case files, including docket entries, during regular business hours.

Courts That Have Dockets in Fayette County

Fayette County is served by several courts, each of which generates its own docket. The Kentucky Court of Justice handles all state trial courts. Federal courts are separate and have their own docket systems. The courts below are the ones that produce dockets relevant to a Fayette County search.

• 22nd Judicial Circuit Court at 120 North Limestone handles felony, high-value civil, domestic violence, and Family Court matters. Circuit Criminal and Circuit Civil dockets are accessed through CourtNet/KYeCourts. The Circuit Court page covers division-level detail.
• Family Court, 22nd Judicial Circuit shares the courthouse at 120 North Limestone. It handles divorce, custody, support, adoption, termination of parental rights, paternity, and dependency/neglect/abuse. Family Court matters are part of the Circuit Clerk's docket records.
• 22nd Judicial District Court at 150 North Limestone handles criminal/traffic, small claims, eviction, probate, mental health, and juvenile matters. This court publishes the public weekly docket schedule and provides 24-hour access for the Criminal/Traffic Division.
• U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Kentucky at 101 Barr Street, Lexington, handles federal civil and criminal cases. Federal dockets are accessed through the federal PACER system, not the Kentucky Court of Justice. This is a separate system entirely.
• U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of Kentucky at 100 East Vine Street, Suite 200, Lexington, handles Chapter 7, 11, and 13 bankruptcy filings. Bankruptcy dockets are also through PACER.

For traffic citations, small claims, evictions, and other District Court matters, the Fayette District Court weekly schedule and the District Criminal/Traffic Division at the District Courthouse are the most useful starting points. Circuit and Family Court dockets require either CourtNet access or a visit to the clerk at 120 North Limestone. See Fayette County court records for a full look at what each court system keeps on file.

Docket vs. Full Case Record in Fayette County

These two things are related but not interchangeable. A docket is a list of events. A case record is the collection of documents that produced those events. Knowing the difference matters when you decide how to look something up and what you can actually get from each source.

The docket shows you the timeline: when the case was filed, when hearings were held, what orders were entered, and what the final outcome was. It is usually a few lines per event. The full case file contains the pleadings, motions, evidence, transcripts, and actual text of orders and judgments. For most public uses, like confirming a court date, checking whether a case is still active, or verifying a disposition, the docket is enough. For legal review, appeals, or evidence purposes, you need the full file.

The Kentucky Court of Justice request instructions, available at kycourts.gov, explain that all requests for copies of case records begin with the clerk of the court that heard the case. That applies whether you want the docket printout or the full file.

How to Read a Fayette County Docket

Docket entries use shorthand. Once you know the terms, reading a Fayette County docket is straightforward. Below is a short reference for common terms and what they mean in the context of a Kentucky court case. These apply to both Circuit and District Court dockets. For the full thirty-term glossary used by the Kentucky Court of Justice, see the court records page.

Arraignment

The first formal court appearance. The defendant hears the charges and enters a plea. In Fayette District Court, felony, misdemeanor, and traffic arraignments typically happen at 1 p.m.

Preliminary Hearing

A District Court hearing to decide whether there is probable cause to send a felony charge to the grand jury. Scheduled at 8:30 a.m. on the weekly schedule.

Continuance

A postponement. When you see this on a docket, the hearing was not held as scheduled and was moved to a new date.

Disposition

The case outcome. Common dispositions include dismissed, guilty plea, acquitted, judgment entered, transferred to Circuit Court, and waived to grand jury.

Bench Warrant

A warrant issued by the judge, usually because the defendant failed to appear. On a docket, you may see "FTA" (failure to appear) tied to a bench warrant entry.

Forcible Detainer

The Kentucky term for an eviction case. Forcible detainer dockets at Fayette District Court are typically held at 9:30 a.m.

Expungement

A court order removing an eligible record from public access. Once granted, the docket entry itself may be sealed or show only the expungement order, not the original charge detail.

Circuit Court docket entries can be longer and more complex than District Court entries because Circuit cases often involve more filings, hearings, and parties. A Circuit Civil case, for instance, may have dozens of docket entries covering motions practice, discovery deadlines, hearings on motions to dismiss, and trial scheduling. A small claims case in District Court may have only three or four entries from filing to judgment.

Restricted records do not appear in the public docket at all. Juvenile cases in Fayette County are confidential by statute. Mental health division cases are also confidential, though orders of appointment, judgments, and orders affecting judgments are public. Sealed or expunged records are removed from public view. If you expect a case to appear and it does not, it may be restricted rather than missing. The Circuit Court Clerk can tell you whether a case exists but is restricted, without disclosing the restricted content itself.

Note: Personal identifiers such as Social Security numbers, financial account numbers, and minor names are routinely redacted from public court records, including docket entries, under Kentucky court rules and open records exemptions.

Specialty Court Dockets in Fayette County

Fayette District Court runs several specialty court dockets that appear on the weekly schedule. These are not separate courts. They are specialized dockets held within District Court for participants enrolled in supervised programs. The weekly schedule lists each specialty docket by name and time, alongside the standard criminal, civil, probate, and eviction dockets.

Drug Court in Fayette County holds its docket at 12:30 p.m. on the weekly schedule. In January 2025, the Kentucky Court of Justice announced that four Fayette County Drug Court programs achieved certification after evaluation under specialty court best-practice standards. The certified programs involve judges Kimberly Nell Bunnell, Traci Brislin, Libby G. Messer, and Lindsay Hughes Thurston. Drug court participants appear for regular review hearings that are part of their program conditions, so the docket is active and ongoing rather than a single event.

Mental Health Specialty Court holds its docket at noon. Mental Health Division cases in Fayette District Court are confidential by statute. The docket entry for a mental health case will not be publicly visible in the same way a standard civil or criminal entry is. Only orders of appointment, judgments, and orders affecting judgments are public. AOT (Assisted Outpatient Treatment) Specialty Court holds at 2:30 p.m. Each of these specialty dockets reflects a distinct population of participants and a separate calendar track within the five District Court divisions.

If a case is in one of these specialty programs, the standard court date lookup may not show the full picture. Contact the Fayette District Court clerk division directly for scheduling information related to a specialty court participant. The Fayette District Court page lists division contacts including Mental Health at 859-246-2236.

Fayette County Criminal and Traffic Dockets

Criminal and traffic dockets in Fayette County run through the District Criminal/Traffic Division and, for felony cases after indictment, through Circuit Criminal. The District Criminal/Traffic Division at 150 North Limestone is notable for its 24-hour operation. It is open every day of the year except December 24 and December 25. This matters for docket access and payment purposes: the division posts bail bonds, collects fines and court costs for prepayable citations, and accepts emergency protective order petitions around the clock.

The weekly schedule shows felony, misdemeanor, and traffic arraignments at 1 p.m. Misdemeanor retrials appear at 10 a.m. Felony preliminary hearings run at 8:30 a.m. Fine payments are processed at 2:30 p.m. These docket blocks repeat each week across the five divisions and their assigned courtrooms. For a specific arraignment date, the clerk can confirm the date and division, or you can use an authorized CourtNet account to look up the case. The District Criminal/Traffic Division phone is 859-246-2228.

Once a felony case is indicted, it moves to Circuit Criminal at 120 North Limestone, where its docket continues as a Circuit Court matter. That shift matters for records purposes: the case number format may change, and the clerk division handling it changes from District to Circuit. For traffic citations specifically, the District Criminal/Traffic Division also handles prepayable fine payments by phone at 1-877-211-1587. See the traffic court records page for more on citation lookup and payment. See arrest records for information on how Fayette criminal cases are booked, charged, and tracked.

Related Fayette County Court Resources

Court dockets connect to several other records and resources across the Fayette County court system. The links below go to pages that cover each topic in more depth.

• Fayette County court records covers the full case file: what it contains, how to request copies, fees, older records at the State Records Center, and the CourtNet search-field inventory.
• Fayette County Circuit Court covers the 22nd Judicial Circuit structure, Circuit Criminal and Circuit Civil divisions, Family Court, and the judges and phones for each division.
• Fayette Circuit Court Clerk covers the clerk's office, the Appeals and Records Division at Suite C-33, how to request certified copies, and the public terminals available for in-person review.
• Fayette County arrest records covers the criminal side of the court system from arrest to booking to arraignment, and what appears on a criminal court docket.
• Traffic court records covers how traffic citations become District Court cases, prepayable fines, and the distinction between a court traffic record and a state driver record.
• Frequently asked questions includes common questions about searching Fayette court cases, accessing dockets, and understanding what is and is not public record.

For the most current docket schedule by judge and courtroom, check the Fayette District Court Weekly Schedule directly. Judicial assignments and docket blocks can shift, so the online schedule is always more reliable than any third-party summary.