Madison County Circuit Court Clerk
The Kentucky Court of Justice Madison County page identifies David M. Fernandez as the Madison Circuit Court Clerk. The office is the local clerk for Circuit, Family, and District Court files in Madison County. That means felony criminal files, civil cases, family cases, divorce files, probate records, traffic cases, small claims, misdemeanor matters, jury support, and many copy requests are court-clerk matters.
The Circuit Court Clerk's office should not be confused with the Madison County Clerk. The County Clerk handles recordings, motor vehicles, elections, passports, marriage licenses, and other county-clerk services. A person seeking a divorce decree, criminal judgment, traffic disposition, probate order, or certified court case copy should start with the court clerk or Kentucky Court of Justice channels.
Madison Circuit Court Clerk
Clerk: David M. Fernandez
101 West Main Street
Richmond, KY 40475
Department phone lines listed by case type
Monday 8:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.; Tuesday-Friday 8:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
What the Madison County Clerk Handles
The Circuit Court Clerk receives filings, maintains court records, supports dockets, accepts payments where allowed, routes copy requests, and helps court users find the correct division. The Kentucky Court of Justice Madison page separates phone lines for Circuit Criminal, Circuit Civil, District Criminal, Probate, Traffic, Small Claims, and Jury, which shows that Madison County records are not handled by one general counter for every matter.
- Circuit criminal and civil records, including felony and higher-value civil case files.
- District Court records, including traffic, misdemeanor, small claims, probate, juvenile, and preliminary felony matters.
- Family Court records, including divorce, custody, support, and protective-order files, subject to restrictions.
- Certified copy and verification requests when online docket information is not enough.
- Jury, docket, and department-specific questions routed through the phone lines listed by KCOJ.
For Fiscal Court department records, Madison County's open-records request page says requests go to the records custodian for the relevant division. For county-clerk recordings or marriage licenses, the County Clerk's site and open-records area are the better channels.
Request Madison County Certified Copies
A certified court copy is used when a person needs an official court record rather than a public docket printout. Employers, licensing boards, other courts, agencies, title companies, and parties often ask for certified dispositions, decrees, orders, judgments, or probate documents. The public docket is not a substitute for a certified copy because it is only a scheduling and event tool and carries a change warning.
- Identify the case type, party names, approximate filing year, and case number if known.
- Use the KCOJ docket search for court-date clues or CourtNet 2.0 if registered access is available.
- Contact the Madison Circuit Court Clerk through the department line listed for the case type on the KCOJ Madison County page.
- Ask whether the record is public, sealed, expunged, older, or stored in a way that affects processing.
- Confirm current copy, certification, mailing, and payment requirements before sending money or visiting.
- Request pickup, mail, or other delivery according to the clerk's current process.
Records Request Form Fields
The research did not locate a Madison court-copy web form with exact public field labels. Use only known facts when preparing a clerk request. The better the request identifies the court and case, the less likely the clerk will need follow-up. Do not send a Fiscal Court open-records form for a Circuit, Family, District, probate, traffic, or divorce case file unless the court clerk directs that route.
| Field | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Case Number | Helpful if known | Use the exact court case number from a docket, notice, or prior order when available. |
| Party Names | Yes | List full names and any prior names used in the case. |
| Case Type or Division | Yes | State Circuit, District, Family, probate, traffic, criminal, civil, divorce, or small claims. |
| Document Type | Yes | Identify decree, disposition, judgment, order, docket sheet, probate order, or other requested item. |
| Certification Need | Yes | Say whether a plain copy or certified copy is needed. |
| Delivery Method | Yes | Ask the clerk about pickup, mail, payment, and postage before submitting. |
Madison County Clerk Fee Notes
Accessible research did not locate a current Madison Circuit Court Clerk certified-copy fee schedule. The KYeCourts login page displayed a notice that Circuit and District civil filing fees increase effective July 1, 2026 under Kentucky Supreme Court Orders 2026-15 and 2026-18. Because fee timing is changing, confirm court filing fees, copy fees, certification fees, and payment methods directly with the clerk before relying on any old amount.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Circuit/District civil filing fees | Changing effective July 1, 2026 under Kentucky Supreme Court Orders 2026-15 and 2026-18 |
| Court plain copy | Verify with Madison Circuit Court Clerk |
| Court certified copy | Verify with Madison Circuit Court Clerk |
| Mailing or postage | Verify before submitting request |
| Fiscal Court noncommercial photocopy | $0.10 per page through Madison County open-records process |
Common Clerk Forms
The Kentucky Court of Justice maintains statewide forms used in many case types. Madison County users should choose forms by case type and confirm local filing needs with the Circuit Court Clerk. Expungement, family, probate, and civil forms may have strict eligibility or service rules, and the clerk cannot give legal advice about which form to choose.
- Kentucky Court of Justice legal forms for public statewide court forms.
- Kentucky expungement guidance for state expungement forms and eligibility information.
- Request Court Records for statewide court-record request guidance.
Mail and Online Filings
KYeCourts is the login entry for CourtNet 2.0 and eFiling help. Its public page states that the applications provide access to criminal and civil cases filed with the Kentucky Court System. It also includes registration and account-recovery links. Public users without login access should use the public docket search for scheduled dates and the Circuit Court Clerk for official record copies.
Mail requests should identify the case clearly and should not include payment until the clerk confirms the current amount and accepted payment method. For restricted, sealed, expunged, juvenile, or protected family records, online systems and ordinary mail requests may not provide access.
When the Clerk Is Not the Office
Several Madison County record questions sound like court-record requests but belong elsewhere. Marriage-license records start with the Madison County Clerk, not the Circuit Court Clerk. Jail custody status starts with the Madison County Detention Center and its inmate inquiry portal. Sheriff legal-process questions, anonymous drug tips, and non-emergency deputy dispatch use Sheriff's Office channels. Fiscal Court department records use the county open-records process and the custodian for the division that holds the file.
This office split is especially important in downtown Richmond because the courthouse, county-government address, Sheriff's Office, and Detention Center are close to one another. A visitor may be near the right government district while still standing at the wrong counter. Before traveling, identify whether the record is a court case file, a county-clerk recording, a jail booking record, a sheriff record, or a Fiscal Court department record.