Perry County Court Docket Basics
A court docket is a schedule and event list. In Perry County, it helps identify when a matter is set in Circuit Court or District Court, which division is involved, and whether a public online schedule has been updated. It is different from a full court record. A docket may show case timing and setting information, while the official case record can include pleadings, motions, orders, citations, evidence, reports, video recordings, transcripts, judgments, dispositions, and financial records.
Perry County sits in the 33rd Judicial Circuit and 33rd Judicial District. Circuit Court handles felony cases, larger civil matters, land title disputes, contested probate, appeals from District Court, and Family Court matters where applicable. District Court handles misdemeanors, traffic, violations, ordinances, probate of wills, small claims, juvenile matters, domestic violence proceedings, and felony probable-cause hearings. That split matters because the docket search requires a division choice.
Find Perry County Dockets Online
The Kentucky Court of Justice docket search is the clearest public docket tool documented for Perry County. It starts with the message to select a county to generate a docket. A user selects Perry, chooses Circuit or District, enters a date, and may leave courtroom and subdivision set to ALL. The result area is labeled "NOT AN OFFICIAL DOCKET - SUBJECT TO CHANGE" and includes a last-updated field.
- Open the Kentucky Court of Justice docket search.
- Select Perry County from the county dropdown.
- Choose Circuit or District based on the type of case or hearing.
- Enter the docket date, then use courtroom or subdivision only if the needed setting is known.
- Review the generated docket and verify any high-stakes information with the Perry County Circuit Court Clerk.
The KYeCourts guest-login page can also help with public case information before or after a docket search.
KYeCourts is useful when a user needs case information beyond a single hearing date, but the official file remains clerk-held.
Perry County Docket Search Fields
The Perry County docket search fields are narrow and date-driven. This makes the tool good for court-day planning, but less complete than a case-file request. The research file captured the following field inventory from the public KCOJ docket form.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| County | Dropdown with Kentucky counties. Select PERRY for Perry County court dockets. |
| Division | Required Circuit or District choice, tied to the court that has the matter. |
| Date | Required docket date used to generate the schedule. |
| Courtroom | Optional dropdown that defaults to ALL when no courtroom is known. |
| Subdivision | Optional dropdown that defaults to ALL when no subdivision is known. |
| Last Updated | Result field that signals when the public docket data was last refreshed. |
| Disclaimer | Warning that the docket is not official, is subject to change, and must be verified against the official record. |
Perry County Courts With Dockets
Perry County public dockets come from the Kentucky Court of Justice system rather than a separate county-run calendar. The online docket form supports Circuit and District divisions. Judge Alison C. Wells is listed by KCOJ as Chief Circuit Judge for the 33rd Judicial Circuit, and Judge Cody Goehring is listed as District Judge for the 33rd Judicial District. The Circuit Court Clerk supports court records, filings, copies, jury information, bonds, payments, and the public terminal.
- Perry Circuit Court dockets may involve felonies, larger civil matters, appeals from District Court, land title disputes, contested probate, and Family Court matters where applicable.
- Perry District Court dockets may involve misdemeanors, traffic, violations, ordinances, probate of wills, small claims, juvenile matters, domestic violence, and preliminary felony proceedings.
- Kentucky Court of Appeals and Supreme Court matters use appellate public access, not the Perry County daily docket form.
The Kentucky Court of Justice docket search form is the source for the Perry County docket fields and change warning.
The public form's county, division, and date filters make it more of a schedule tool than a complete record search.
Perry Docket vs Case Record
A Perry County court docket can be the quickest way to learn whether a case has a listed hearing, but it should not be treated as the whole case. Full case records may contain the filings and orders that explain why a hearing was set, what was requested, and how the court ruled. In criminal matters, the court file may also show charges, plea entries, disposition, sentence, probation terms, fines, and costs. For a case-level view of criminal files, use the Perry County criminal court records page.
| Point | Docket | Full Case Record |
|---|---|---|
| Primary use | Check a court date or setting. | Review the documents and rulings in the case. |
| Typical access | Public online search by county, division, and date. | Public portal, clerk request, public terminal, or archived-record process. |
| Reliability | Subject to change and marked not official. | Verified through the clerk-held official file. |
| Content | Schedule, courtroom, subdivision, and last-updated information. | Pleadings, motions, orders, citations, transcripts, judgments, and financial records. |
Read Perry County Dockets
Read a Perry County docket from the top down. First check the county and division. Then check the date and any courtroom or subdivision filter. If a docket result includes a last-updated field, treat it as a timing signal, not as a guarantee that a hearing has not changed since then. Weather, continuances, judge availability, plea changes, settlement, bond issues, or other court orders can alter a schedule.
The docket disclaimer is unusually important. It says the public docket cannot be used for employment, licensing, or eligibility for government programs and warns that information may change because of limitations, delay, or error. The official record is still the source to verify a party, court date, disposition, or file status. For Perry County, verification goes through the Circuit Court Clerk at 606-435-6000 for Circuit matters or 606-435-6002 for District matters.
Local visit details can affect docket use. The Perry County Circuit Court Clerk office is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the county page notes a local closure on Thursday and Friday during the third week in September for the Black Gold Festival. The Hall of Justice has free parking in a lot and parking structure, with two-hour parking on Main Street. Those details matter when a docket search leads to an in-person hearing, payment, bond question, or copy request in downtown Hazard.
Note: Public docket results are best for planning a court appearance, not proving final case status.
Perry County Payment Lookups
Some docket questions overlap with payment questions. The Kentucky ePay quick reference says users may search by case number, party or business, or citation. Case-number search requires county and case number. Party search may use last name with birth date, last name with first name, driver's license number, or business name, plus the related county. Citation search uses citation year, control number, and type. Results may show an ePay link for eligible fines or costs.
Online payment does not replace docket verification. Credit, debit, and prepaid cards are accepted online. Cash payments must be made at the Circuit Clerk's office, and the KYeCourts page also notes a CashPayToday retail option. If a payment relates to failure to appear, failure to pay, bond, or a warrant concern, verify the court status with the clerk after payment because public systems may lag.
The payment path is also distinct from the public docket path. A docket answers when and where a matter is set. ePay answers whether a case, citation, or party has an eligible payment option. The court file answers what order was entered and whether the obligation, bond issue, or failure-to-appear problem has been resolved. Perry County users often need more than one channel when a traffic citation, misdemeanor, or District Court matter has both a hearing and a balance due.
Perry Archived Docket Questions
Older Perry County docket entries may not be solved by the current public date search. Kentucky Court of Justice guidance says case-file requests start with the clerk of the court that heard the case. If the record has moved to a record facility, the clerk identifies the facility and supplies case and file locator numbers. The State Records Center needs those locator numbers and cannot search by name or Social Security number.
That archived-record rule applies when a docket search leads to a closed criminal file, old civil action, probate matter, or other record no longer kept in the active courthouse file area. The public docket can help identify a date or division, but the Perry County Circuit Court Clerk is the office that can tell whether the record is available, moved, sealed, destroyed under retention schedules, or subject to a copy process.
Archived docket questions can also arise in probate and appeal settings. District Court handles probate of wills, while contested probate can move to Circuit Court. Appeals from District Court are local Circuit Court matters. Circuit and Family Court appeals move to the Kentucky Court of Appeals. Those paths make the division and case level important before an older Perry County docket is requested.
For current public schedules, always start with the county and division before relying on a party name or case memory.