Knott County Circuit Clerk Office
The Kentucky Court of Justice Knott County page identifies Lisa Bolen as Circuit Court Clerk. Kentucky's statewide clerk structure gives this office custody and control over local Circuit Court and District Court records. That means the clerk is the right starting point for felony files, divorce cases, civil actions, traffic cases, misdemeanors, probate cases handled in District Court, small claims, preliminary felony matters, and other trial-level case records filed in Knott County.
The clerk's public counter is inside the Knott County Judicial Center in downtown Hindman. KCOJ lists the office hours as Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., with weekends closed. The same county page says to call ahead for accessibility assistance. For people visiting from rural parts of Knott County, the local court, fiscal court, county clerk, and sheriff offices are all clustered on or near West Main Street, but the trial court file custodian is the Circuit Court Clerk at the judicial center.
Knott County Office of Circuit Court Clerk
Clerk: Lisa Bolen
Knott County Judicial Center
53 W. Main St.
P.O. Box 1317
Hindman, KY 41822
606-785-5021
Fax: 606-785-3994
Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-4 p.m.
Knott County Clerk Duties
The Kentucky circuit court clerk overview explains that circuit court clerks receive lawsuits and court papers, attend court proceedings, schedule juries, receive fines, and handle bond money. The clerk also keeps and safely stores court records. In Knott County, that role covers both the 36th Judicial Circuit and the 36th Judicial District because the circuit clerk serves the local trial courts rather than only one court division.
Use the Circuit Court Clerk for case-file questions. Use the separate Knott County Clerk for marriage licenses, recorded instruments, notary bonds, elections, motor vehicle registration, and vehicle titling. The names can be easy to mix up, but the record custody is different. The County Clerk does not keep the Circuit Court and District Court case files that show criminal charges, civil pleadings, divorce decrees, judgments, traffic dispositions, or probate court orders.
- Accepts court filings, pleadings, citations, motions, and other case documents for local trial courts.
- Maintains public court case records for Circuit Court, District Court, and related trial court divisions.
- Receives court fines, costs, bond money, and eligible payments by the methods listed by KCOJ.
- Schedules and supports jury service and keeps court paperwork tied to hearings and orders.
- Routes older files by giving case and file locator numbers when records have moved to a records facility.
The Kentucky Specialty Courts page describes programs that can intersect with court files, including Drug Court, Veterans Treatment Court, and Mental Health Court. In Knott County, any specialty-court referral or order tied to a pending criminal case becomes part of the court record path handled through the trial court system.
Specialty Court material is not a substitute for the case file, but it can explain why a criminal case has treatment, supervision, assessment, or review entries.
Request Knott County Certified Copies
Certified copies are issued by the clerk that holds the official file. A certified copy is not the same as a portal printout or a search result. It is a court copy with clerk certification that may be needed for employment licensing, name changes, appeals, child-support enforcement, immigration paperwork, title issues, or proof that a case was dismissed, resolved, or still pending. KCOJ's request court records guidance says AOC does not maintain trial case records and is not the source of those records.
For Knott County court records, start with the clerk that heard the case. If the file is current and available at the judicial center, the clerk can explain copy availability and certification. If an older file has been moved to a record facility, ask for the case number and file locator number. State Records Center requests cannot be searched by name or Social Security number, so the locator details must come from the clerk first.
- Identify the court and case type. Circuit Court handles felonies, divorces, larger civil cases, contested probate, title disputes, and appeals from District Court. District Court handles traffic, misdemeanors, small claims, lower-dollar civil cases, probate of wills, juvenile matters, and preliminary felony hearings.
- Gather the case number if known. If not, collect party names, approximate filing or hearing dates, citation details, and the record type needed.
- Call or visit the Knott County Office of Circuit Court Clerk and state whether a plain copy, certified copy, docket sheet, judgment, decree, order, or complete file review is needed.
- Confirm the fee, payment method, and pickup or mailing option before sending payment. KCOJ lists cash, cashier's check, money order, personal check with address and phone number, phone payment, and ePay where eligible.
- If the clerk says the file is stored outside the office, request the case and file locator numbers before contacting the record facility or archives.
Knott County Request Details
No separate Knott County online copy-request form is published in the official sources used for this record page. A clear written request still helps the clerk locate the correct file and copy the right document. The safest request names the case, court, document, copy type, requester contact information, and delivery method. For sealed, juvenile, mental-health, adoption, expunged, or protected material, public access can be denied, redacted, or limited to authorized parties.
| Field | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Case number | Best if known | KYeCourts case searches require both county of origin and case number when using case-number search. |
| Party names | Yes if no case number | Use full names and any prior names tied to divorce, civil, probate, or criminal matters. |
| Case type or court | Recommended | State whether the matter was Circuit Court, District Court, traffic, criminal, divorce, probate, civil, or small claims. |
| Document type | Yes | Examples include judgment, decree, order, citation, docket sheet, plea, sentence, motion, or entire file review. |
| Copy type | Yes | Say whether plain copies or certified copies are needed. |
| Delivery and contact | Yes | Include phone, mailing address, and whether pickup, mail, fax, or other clerk-approved delivery is requested. |
The Kentucky Drug Court page shows how some criminal files may include treatment-court or supervision-related steps after referral.
When a record involves a specialty-court referral, ask for the court order or docket entry rather than assuming all program notes are public.
Knott County Clerk Fees
No Knott-specific court copy fee schedule is published in the official sources used for this record page. Do not assume a per-page or certification amount without checking with the clerk. The payment details available from official sources are tied to court obligations, citation payments, criminal record reports, KSP records, and expungement. Those figures are useful because many people contact the clerk for fines, traffic payments, expungement filings, or background-check alternatives, but they are not a full local copy-price list.
| Item | Fee or Payment Information |
|---|---|
| Court fines, costs, and eligible local obligations | Cash, cashier's check, money order, personal check with address and phone, phone payment, and ePay where eligible. |
| Online citation payment portal fee | ACH $1.00 or credit card 2.95% of payment amount, with the fee shown before completion. |
| AOC criminal record report card fee | Credit or debit card fee of 2.25% of transaction or $2.50, whichever is greater. |
| Expungement certification | $40 through the Administrative Office of the Courts process. |
| Felony expungement filing | $50 non-refundable filing fee, plus $250 expungement fee if granted, for $300 total. |
| Plain or certified court copies | Confirm with the Knott County Circuit Court Clerk before mailing payment. |
The Kentucky Mental Health Court page is also relevant when a case record contains treatment-related conditions or review hearings.
Mental-health proceedings and treatment details can be restricted, so ask the clerk what portions of a case file are public before requesting copies.
Knott County Online Record Access
Online tools can help locate a case, but they do not replace the Circuit Court Clerk. For court dates, use the Kentucky trial-court docket portal and then confirm with the clerk if the date affects bond, appearance, payment, or warrant risk. For case information, use KYeCourts / CourtNet guest access if the search is available to your access level. For payable court obligations, use Kentucky ePay.
KCOJ help materials list search paths by party, case, citation, and business name. Party search may use first name, last name, date of birth, driver's license number, county, or event range depending on the chosen combination. Case search requires county of origin and case number. Citation search uses year, control number, and type. Business search requires business name and county of origin. If any online route fails, the clerk's office remains the control point for complete files, certified copies, older records, and records removed from public view.
Note: The online docket is not the official docket and can change, so verify high-stakes court dates with the clerk.
Knott County Public Access Limits
Kentucky's public-records framework appears in KRS 61.870 through KRS 61.880. KRS 61.872 gives Kentucky residents the right to inspect nonexempt public records, while KRS 61.878 lists exemptions. For court files, though, the practical request path starts with the clerk of the court that heard the case. That is why Knott County trial court copy requests go to the Circuit Court Clerk rather than a general AOC records office in Frankfort.
Some records are not open in the same way as ordinary civil or criminal docket material. Juvenile court records are confidential under KRS 610.340 unless a specific provision allows release. Adoption, termination, mental-health, domestic-violence, sealed, expunged, and protected personal information can also be restricted. If a request involves one of those categories, ask whether the clerk can provide a redacted copy, a public docket entry, or no public access at all.