Kentucky. Circuit Court (Fayette County)

Fayette County was formed by Virginia in 1780 as one of the three original counties of the Kentucky District. It was named for General Lafayette. Lexington is the county seat. There was one courthouse fire in 1803, and another in 1897.

The Circuit Court is the highest court of civil and criminal jurisdiction within Fayette County, and serves as the appellate court for many cases arising from lower courts. Lower courts now include the District Court and have included the County, Justice's and Quarterly Courts. The circuit court has original jurisdiction in all justiciable causes not exclusively reserved to some other court (KRS 23A.010), and therefore has a wide variety of powers, including jurisdiction in criminal cases, adoptions, mental inquests, as well as divorce, probate, and land cases and other civil disputes.

The Kentucky General Assembly created the system of circuit courts in 1802 to replace the District Court and the Court of Quarter Sessions, with the same power, authority and jurisdiction held by the former courts. Initially, this included all chancery and common law cases except those involving penalties of less than five pounds currency or one thousand pounds of tobacco (Littell, III, Chapter 23, Section 7). The civil and criminal limits of the circuit court's jurisdiction have been changed periodically by the General Assembly. Currently, this includes all felony criminal cases and civil cases involving more than $1500.

From 1802 to 1850, the judges of each circuit court met twice yearly in Frankfort as the General Court (Littell, III, Ch. 23, Sec. 15 and 16). The General Court heard cases involving non-residents or non-residents and citizens who were involved in disputes over twenty dollars, or any land disputes that had been adjourned from the circuit courts (Littell, II, Ch. 60, Sec. 1).

Occasionally, the circuit court's jurisdiction has been concurrent with other county level courts. For example, in 1893 the circuit court was given concurrent jurisdiction with the Justice's Courts in criminal actions where the fine exceeded twenty dollars but was less than one hundred dollars, or where imprisonment was not to exceed fifty days (Acts 1892-1893, Chapter 221, Article VI, Section 67). The circuit court was at this time also given concurrent jurisdiction with Quarterly Court in civil actions involving more than fifty and less than two hundred dollars (Acts 1891-1893, Ch. 221, Art. III, Sec. 31).

The 1804 General Assembly established separate circuit courts in each county, which were divided into judicial districts. Three sessions of court were to be held annually in each district (Littell, III, Ch. 23, Sec. 3). The 1850 Kentucky Constitution fixed the number of districts at twelve, with judges for each district and clerks for each county to be elected to six year terms (Art. 4, Sec. 19-20; Art. 6, Sec.1). The 1891 Constitution reaffirmed six year terms for judges and clerks (Sec. 97 and 129). Thirty judicial districts were established (Acts, 1891-1893, Ch. 121, Sec. 1-30) and the Circuit Courts of Jefferson, Fayette, Kenton and Campbell Counties were allowed to sit in continuous session (Acts, Ch. 221, Art. II, Sec. 15). Currently there are fifty-six judicial districts, eleven of which have two or more divisions (KRS 23A.020, 23A.040, 23A.050, 23A.060, 23A.070). Each circuit court is allowed to sit in continuous session if necessary (KRS 23A.010).

In 1976 the General Assembly made significant changes to Kentucky's court system. District Courts were established as the lower courts in each county and assumed many of the functions of the Quarterly and Justice's Courts, which were gradually phased out. Generally, district court jurisdiction includes civil actions involving less than $1500, criminal misdemeanors, and uncontested probate and juvenile matters. The circuit court assumes jurisdiction in contested probate and juvenile cases (KRS 24A.110, 24A.120, 24A.130) and may serve as an appeals court for any final action of the district court (KRS 23A.080).