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Beginning June 1 all real property and employment cases will be required to be e-filed. By the nd of 2023 nearly every case type will have mandatory e-filing.

Effective May 1, 2023, the office of the Circuit Court Clerk ‘s drop boxes for court filing and paperwork at the entrance to the Justice Center will be removed.  The drop boxes were installed in response to COVID-19 safety protocols in 2020, and the applicable Supreme Court Administrative orders have since been rescinded.  Attorneys are highly encouraged to utilize the KCOJ eFiling system, which provides electronic verification of filing and allows images of the documents to be displayed in CourtNet 2.01, or the respective counters that are open during normal business hours.

Don’t have a credit card, no problem.  You can now pay fines and fees with cash at a number of retail locations.  For more information check out this Quick Reference Guide.  Stay tuned for more ways to pay in cash coming soon. 

The Law Library is temporarily relocated from the 2nd floor of the Justice Center to the 1st floor, past the elevators.  Westlaw is available there.  If you are in need of books from the Law Library please contact Circuit Clerk John Middleton or Judge Summe’s office.

Attention Attorneys: All tort cases and cases involving consumer goods and services and consumer fraud cases are now required to be e-filed.  

We continue to experience a staff shortage, therefore there could be a delay in processing copy requests, paperwork distribution, serving you at the counter, and answering the phone. We are continuing to do our best to serve you as efficiently as we can and we appreciate your patience and understanding. 

We are hiring! We’re looking for team players and smiling faces! If that’s you, fill out an application. You can submit your completed application and resume using the contact button above (enter employment in subject line). We will be scheduling interviews soon and look forward to meeting you! 

The Kenton County Justice Center is open normal business hours 8 am to 4 pm, Monday-Friday (except holidays).  Cutoff for posting bonds and making payments over the phone is 3:30 pm.  You may continue to file documents through e-filing, mail or documents may be dropped in the drop box in front of the Justice Center (no cash or original wills please).  You may also be eligible to do some payments on-line or at select retail locations.

The Circuit Clerk’s office is no longer issuing Drivers Licenses or ID’s.  The Ky Transportation Cabinet is issuing them through regional offices.  They have taken over both the Covington and  Independence Drivers License offices. For more information visit  the Transportation Cabinet  website here. 

Our goal is to provide the best customer service by providing accurate and useful information in a straight-forward easy format. The Circuit Clerk’s office is informally divided into 4 main divisions.

Circuit Civil/Criminal

  • lawsuits over $5,000
  • foreclosures
  • land dispute title cases
  • contested probate cases
  • felony criminal cases

District Civil/Probate

  • lawsuits up to $5,000
  • small claims under $2,500
  • evictions
  • Probate (estates -death, guardianships, name changes, settlements of minors)
  • Casey’s law (involuntary drug/alcohol treatment), mental health (danger to self or others), disability (appointment to make medical/financial decisions)

District Criminal/Traffic

Family Court

  • divorce
  • paternity, child custody/visitation, child and/or spousal support,
  • juvenile dependency/neglect/abuse,
  • juvenile status offenses (runaways, truancy, beyond control)
  • adoptions
  • emergency protective orders and interpersonal protective orders (domestic violence and dating violence)

Use the links above to visit each area or click on the links to the right for the most frequently asked questions.

John C. Middleton
Kenton Circuit/District Clerk
230 Madison Avenue 3rd Floor
Covington, Kentucky 41011

Phone: (859) 292-6523
Fax: (859) 292-6611

Office Hours: 8 am – 4 pm Monday-Friday (except holidays) bonds refunded until 3:30 pm