Trimble County Circuit Clerk
In Kentucky, the Circuit Court Clerk is the trial-court records custodian. The Kentucky Court of Justice describes circuit court clerks as the officials responsible for custody, control, and safe storage of Circuit Court and District Court records. They also receive lawsuits and court documents, attend trials, schedule juries, receive fines, and handle bond money. For Trimble County, the official local court materials identify Stacy M. Bruner as Circuit Court Clerk.
This distinction matters because Trimble County has a separate County Clerk. The County Clerk handles land records, marriage licenses, motor vehicle registration, voter registration, delinquent tax duties, recording, and elections. The County Clerk's own site refers driver licensing and court records to the Circuit Clerk and the Kentucky Court of Justice. A person seeking a divorce decree, criminal case entry, traffic citation record, probate case document, court docket issue, or certified court copy should start with the Circuit Court Clerk, not the County Clerk.
Office of Circuit Court Clerk
Clerk: Stacy M. Bruner
30 Highway 42 East, P.O. Box 248
Bedford, KY 40006
Circuit Criminal/Civil: 502-255-3213
District Court and Driver's Licensing: 502-255-3525
Jury line: 502-255-3328
Fax: 502-255-4953
Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
What the Clerk Keeps
The Trimble County Circuit Court Clerk keeps records for the state trial courts operating through the Kentucky Court of Justice in the county. That includes Circuit Court civil and criminal files, Family Court records that are part of the Circuit Court division, District Court misdemeanor, traffic, probate, small-claims, juvenile, mental-health, and lower civil matters, and payment records for eligible fines, fees, and costs. Public case information may appear online, but the official case file remains with the clerk of the court that heard the case.
- Receiving filings, pleadings, petitions, motions, and other court documents for Trimble County cases.
- Maintaining public and restricted court records for Circuit, Family, District, and Business Court matters.
- Scheduling juries and publishing local jury-report information through the separate jury phone line.
- Collecting court fines, costs, fees, bond money, and payments that cannot be completed online.
- Helping users identify whether a court case file is in the clerk's office, a records facility, or subject to a retention schedule.
The office is not the custodian for all county records. Deeds, mortgages, plats, marriage-license records, election documents, motor vehicle transactions, and delinquent tax records are County Clerk matters. Sheriff and jail records are separate from the court file, even when they relate to the same arrest or criminal case.
Request Trimble Court Copies
Certified copies are usually needed when a court document must prove that it came from the official court file. Divorce decrees, final judgments, criminal dispositions, probate orders, orders of dismissal, and other entered court documents may need certification for agencies, employers, licensing boards, title work, appeals, or personal legal files. Kentucky Court of Justice instructions say requests for copies of court case records and questions about reviewing case files start with the clerk of the court that heard the case.
- Identify the exact case if possible. Use the case number from court paperwork, the party names, the case type, and the court division, such as Circuit, Family, or District.
- Check KYeCourts guest access or the Kentucky docket search if you need public case information or a hearing date before calling the clerk.
- Call or visit the Office of Circuit Court Clerk at the courthouse when you need a copy, a certified copy, file inspection, an older case, or clarification about restricted access.
- Ask whether the file is available locally. KCOJ notes that some older records may be stored at a records facility or may have been destroyed under Kentucky Court of Justice retention schedules.
- If the file is at a records facility, get the case number and file locator number from the clerk before requesting access from the proper records repository.
- Confirm copy, certification, mailing, and payment instructions directly with the clerk before sending money, because the official Trimble research did not locate a court copy-fee table for this office.
Trimble Clerk Request Details
A court-record request should be specific enough for the clerk to find the right file without guessing. The statewide online systems use county, division, case number, citation number, party names, and dates, and the same identifiers help when calling or visiting the local office. If you are requesting a court document under Kentucky public-record access principles, remember that public access is broad but not unlimited. KRS 61.872 recognizes inspection rights for public records, while KRS 61.878 lists exemptions, and court files may also be limited by court rules, sealing orders, expungement orders, or confidentiality statutes.
| Field | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Case Number | Helpful | Use the exact Kentucky case number from paperwork, KYeCourts, ePay, or a court notice when available. |
| Party Names | Yes | Provide plaintiff/defendant, Commonwealth/defendant, petitioner/respondent, or estate names depending on the case type. |
| Court Division | Helpful | State whether the matter is Circuit, Family, or District Court if known. |
| Document Type | Yes | Examples include final order, judgment, docket sheet, criminal disposition, divorce decree, probate order, or citation record. |
| Copy Type | Yes | Say whether you need a plain copy, certified copy, file review, or older-record locator information. |
| Contact Information | Yes | Include a phone number or mailing details so the clerk can confirm availability, fees, and pickup or mailing instructions. |
Clerk Fees and Payments
The research set did not locate a Trimble County Circuit Court Clerk copy-fee schedule, so the safest route is to confirm current copy and certification charges directly with the office before mailing a request. Payment options for Kentucky court fines, fees, and costs are clearer: the Kentucky Court of Justice lists cash, check, credit card, and money order as Trimble County payment options, with online payment available through KCOJ ePay for eligible cases. ePay can search by case, citation, or party.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Court plain copy | Confirm with the Circuit Court Clerk; official Trimble court copy amount was not located. |
| Court certified copy | Confirm with the Circuit Court Clerk before sending payment. |
| Eligible court fines, fees, and costs | Pay through KCOJ ePay when the case qualifies, or through the clerk for in-office payments. |
| County Clerk noncommercial copy | $0.50 per copy under the County Clerk open-records policy when no statutory fee applies. |
| County Clerk noncommercial recording/disc/tape | $5.00 per copy under the County Clerk open-records policy. |
| Marriage certified copy | $5.00 from the County Clerk, not the Circuit Court Clerk. |
The County Clerk fees above are included only to prevent office confusion. They do not set the Circuit Court Clerk's court-copy charges. Court filing fees may also change; KYeCourts noted civil filing fee increases effective July 1, 2026 under Kentucky Supreme Court orders, so static fee assumptions should be verified before filing.
Online Clerk Access
Trimble County does not publish a separate county-run court case database. Official online access is statewide through Kentucky Court of Justice systems. KYeCourts guest access provides free public case information throughout Kentucky after the user accepts the public-records acknowledgment. The docket search is useful for dates and schedules, but it is not the official docket and must be verified against the official court record. ePay is the payment-focused route for eligible fines, costs, and citations.
- KYeCourts public records guest access - statewide public case information where available.
- Kentucky Court of Justice docket search - county, division, date, courtroom, and subdivision docket lookup.
- Kentucky Court of Justice ePay - case, citation, or party search for eligible payments.
- KCOJ request court records instructions - statewide guidance that case-copy requests start with the clerk of the court that heard the case.
Older Court Records
Older Trimble County records may not be immediately available at the public counter. The research notes that records 15 to 35 years old may be requested from the State Records Center, but the request needs case and locator numbers supplied by the county clerk office that handled the case. Records 36 years old or older may route to the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives, and for cases filed on or after January 1, 1978, case and locator numbers must still be supplied. Start with Stacy M. Bruner's office before contacting a repository so the request uses the right identifiers.
Restricted records need a different posture. Juvenile records are often confidential under KRS 610.340. Adoption, mental-health, sealed, expunged, domestic-violence, victim-identifying, and law-enforcement-sensitive materials may be withheld or redacted. A public docket entry does not guarantee that every document in the file is available for inspection or copying.
County Clerk Is Separate
For noncourt county records, contact Trimble County County Clerk Sarah A. Cull at P.O. Box 262, 30 Highway 42 East, Bedford, KY 40006. The County Clerk phone is 502-255-7174, fax is 502-255-7045, email is sarah.cull@ky.gov, and hours are Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. That office issues marriage licenses, records land documents, handles motor vehicle and voter registration duties, manages election records, and receives delinquent tax bills after turnover from the sheriff.
The County Clerk's open-records policy says requests should be submitted on the open-records form and may be delivered by hand, mail, fax, or email. It also says a written determination will be made within five working days, excluding weekends and legal holidays. Use that route for County Clerk records. Use the Circuit Court Clerk for Trimble County court case records, court dockets, certified court copies, traffic cases, probate case files, divorce cases, and criminal court documents.