Information from the County Attorney's Office
By Steven J. Franzen, Campbell County Attorney
Most people have very little experience with Kentucky’s Court System unless they are called as jurors. I thought it may be helpful in this column to do an article explaining the structure of the Kentucky Court System.
There are four different levels of courts in Kentucky. The two trial court levels are the District Court and the Circuit Court which includes Family Court. The other two levels, the Kentucky Court of Appeals and the Kentucky Supreme Court, are for cases that are appealed. Below I will briefly overview each of these courts.
District Court
District Court is where most people enter the court system for the first time. District Court handle misdemeanors, violations, traffic cases, juvenile cases, civil cases under $5,000.00, small claims court cases and probate matters among other things. District Court Judges are elected for four year terms. Six member juries are used in District Court. A unanimous decision is needed to render a verdict in criminal cases, while civil cases require a five-sixths majority. The County Attorney’s Office prosecutes criminal, traffic and juvenile cases in District Court.
Circuit Court
Circuit Court has jurisdiction over all felony cases, civil cases of more than $5,000.00, divorce and custody cases, appeals from District Court and contested probate cases. Judges for Circuit Court serve eight year terms. Circuit Court juries consist of twelve members and criminal trial verdicts must be unanimous, but civil trials only require a three-fourths majority. Felony criminal trials in the Circuit Court are prosecuted by the Commonwealth Attorney’s Office.
Family Court
Family Courts only exist in certain counties throughout Kentucky to include Campbell County. The Family Court is considered part of the Circuit Court and deals with some of the matters normally handled in the District Court and also some of the matters normally handled in the regular Circuit Court. Family Courts handle divorce, child custody, visitation, child support, adoption, termination of parental rights, domestic violence, paternity and juvenile matters such as dependency, abuse, neglect and status offenses such as truancy and runaways.
Court of Appeals
The Court of Appeals reviews cases that have already been tried in a lower court, such as District or Circuit Court. There are 14 judges on this Court and they are divided into panels of no more than three judges. Two appeals judges are elected from each appellate district for terms of eight years.
Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Kentucky is the court of last resort and the final interpreter of state law. It consists of seven justices who are elected from the seven appellate districts and serve eight-year terms. The Supreme Court is composed of a Chief Justice and six other justices that collectively as a panel review decisions of lower courts. Rulings that impose the death sentence, life imprisonment, or 20 years or more imprisonment automatically go to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court also can discipline lawyers and has authority in determining the rules of practice and procedure for the entire court system.
I hope this information is interesting and helpful. If you have any topics you would like to have covered in this column, please contact my office by e-mail at countyattorney@campbellcountyky.gov, by phone at 491-7700 or by regular mail addressed to 319 York Street, Newport, Kentucky 41071