Kentucky’s court system

Kentucky has one unified court system, called the Court of Justice, with four levels: District Court, Circuit Court, the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court. The first two are trial courts, where cases are heard and decided. The last two are appellate courts, which review what a trial court did.

District Court

District Court is a court of limited jurisdiction, which means it hears only the kinds of cases the law assigns to it. It sits in every county and handles:

• Misdemeanors, violations, traffic offenses and local ordinance cases.
• The first steps in a felony case, including arraignments and probable cause hearings.
• Civil claims of $5,000 or less, including small claims of $2,500 or less.
• Probate of wills and estates, unless the matter is contested.
• Juvenile cases.

Circuit Court and Family Court

Circuit Court is the court of general jurisdiction. It hears every kind of case not assigned to another court, including felonies and capital offenses, civil claims over $5,000, disputes over title to land and contested probate matters. It also hears appeals from District Court.

Family Court is a division of Circuit Court in the counties that have one. It handles divorce, child custody and support, adoption, termination of parental rights, domestic violence cases, and child abuse and neglect cases. Campbell County makes up the 17th Judicial Circuit, which has a Family Court division. The Campbell County Courthouse is at 330 York Street in Newport.

The appellate courts

The Court of Appeals has 14 judges, who sit in panels of three and hear most appeals from Circuit Court. An appeal is not a new trial. The judges review the record from the trial court for legal error.

The Supreme Court is the state’s highest court, with seven justices. An appeal from a Circuit Court judgment imposing a sentence of death, life imprisonment or 20 years or more goes directly to the Supreme Court. Most other cases reach it only if the justices agree to review a Court of Appeals decision.

How a case moves between courts

A misdemeanor case is decided in District Court, and an appeal goes to Circuit Court. A felony case often begins in District Court, which decides whether there is probable cause to send it to a grand jury, a panel of citizens that decides whether to issue an indictment, the formal charge. An indicted case is tried in Circuit Court.

The Kentucky Constitution guarantees at least one appeal as a matter of right in every civil and criminal case. One limit protects defendants: the Commonwealth may not appeal a judgment of acquittal, except to ask a higher court to settle a question of law for future cases.