Search Butler County Court Records Online
Butler County court records start with the Butler County Circuit Court Clerk and Kentucky Court of Justice systems. The local Circuit Court Clerk is Melissa Cardwell, and KCOJ identifies circuit court clerks as the custodians of Kentucky Circuit, Family, District, and Business Court records. The online path depends on the record need. The trial-court docket generator is public and date-based. KYeCourts/CourtNet is the broader civil and criminal case system, but full access requires login.
- Identify whether the matter belongs in Circuit Court, Family Court, or District Court.
- Use the Kentucky trial-court docket generator for a court date or calendar check.
- Use KYeCourts/CourtNet for account-gated case lookup by party, case, citation, or business.
- Contact the Butler County Circuit Court Clerk for full files, certified copies, or official availability.
- If the clerk says the file is archived, use the case and file locator numbers for the State Records Center or Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives route.
The Kentucky Circuit Court overview describes Circuit Court as the court of general jurisdiction. 
That court role matters because felony and larger civil case records are usually tied to Circuit Court rather than the limited-jurisdiction District Court path.
Butler County Court Records Fields
The public docket generator requires a small set of fields. KYeCourts search options are broader and include party, case, citation, and business paths. Users should not expose private identifiers in public settings, and KCOJ notes that Social Security number access is not available to all users.
| Search Type | Required or Accepted Inputs | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Docket generator | County, division, date, courtroom, subdivision | Select Butler, then Circuit or District. |
| Party search | Last name plus first name, birth date, DLN, or event range options | More identifiers improve matching. |
| Case search | Case number and county of origin | Statewide searching is not available for case search. |
| Citation search | Citation year, control number, and type | Used for traffic and citation records. |
| Business search | Business name and county of origin | Uses starts-with logic because business names are tracked as party names. |
The Kentucky District Court page lists District Court matters such as traffic, misdemeanors, probate, small claims, juvenile matters, mental-health proceedings, and lower-value civil cases. 
Those case types explain why many Butler County court records begin in District Court even though the Circuit Court Clerk is the local record custodian.
Types of Butler County Court Records
Butler County civil records can arise in Circuit Court or District Court, depending on the amount and subject. District Court handles civil cases involving $5,000 or less and small claims involving $2,500 or less. Circuit Court handles larger civil matters and general-jurisdiction cases. Criminal records divide between District Court misdemeanors, violations, traffic offenses, arraignments, and felony probable-cause hearings, while Circuit Court handles felony cases and higher criminal proceedings.
- Civil records: complaints, summonses, answers, motions, orders, judgments, garnishments, and appeals.
- Criminal records: complaints, citations, indictments, bond orders, pleas, dispositions, sentencing orders, and probation terms.
- Family records: divorce, custody, support, paternity, adoption, and related family matters, with some restricted content.
- Probate records: wills, estate administration, guardianship, curatorship, and name-change materials in District Court jurisdiction.
- Traffic records: citations, scheduled court dates, pleas, dispositions, fines, costs, and failure-to-appear history.
The Kentucky Family Court page lists divorce, support, equitable distribution, custody, paternity, adoption, and domestic-violence jurisdiction. 
Family Court records can be public in part, but adoption, juvenile, financial, and protected-address material may be restricted.
What Butler County Court Records Show
Because no public Butler County case-detail page was reachable without KYeCourts login during research, the safest record inventory is based on Kentucky search options, docket fields, and clerk request rules. A public docket gives schedule and division data. An account-gated or clerk-verified court record can give more detail, subject to restrictions.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Case number | The unique file identifier used for case search and archived requests. |
| County of origin | Confirms the case is a Butler County matter. |
| Division | Circuit, Family, or District Court context. |
| Party names | Plaintiff, defendant, petitioner, respondent, or business party. |
| Event date range | Scheduled hearings or docket events. |
| Citation data | Year, control number, and citation type for citation cases. |
| Disposition | The outcome, such as dismissed, guilty, amended, or disposed. |
| Record location | Whether the file is with the clerk, a record facility, KDLA, or destroyed under retention schedules. |
The KCOJ Circuit Court Clerks page explains that circuit clerks keep Circuit and District Court records, receive lawsuits, schedule juries, collect fines, and handle bond money. 
That statewide clerk role matches the Butler County local path for certified copies and full file questions.
Public Access to Butler County Court Records
Kentucky's public-record framework includes KRS Chapter 61 and KRS 61.870. For court case files, Kentucky Court of Justice procedures are the practical access rule: requests for copies and review of Circuit, District, Family, and Business Court records start with the clerk of the court that heard the case. In Butler County, that is the Circuit Court Clerk for trial-court records.
Kentucky Court of Justice legal forms provide statewide forms, including expungement, probate, and small claims materials. 
Forms can help users identify the right court process, but clerk staff cannot provide legal advice.
Note: Online results are useful for lookup, but certified court copies must be verified through the official clerk record.
Restricted Butler County Court Records
Not all Butler County court records are open in full. Juvenile records are governed by KRS Chapter 610 and should not be treated as ordinary public case files. Adoption records, mental-health proceedings, sealed cases, expunged criminal matters, protected addresses, financial account numbers, minor information, and confidential medical or mental-health data may be restricted or redacted.
Kentucky expungement materials are available through the KCOJ self-help portal. 
Expungement changes public access only after the proper certification, petition, and court order process is complete.
Butler County Court Record Requests
For a full file, certified copy, or older court record, contact the Butler County Circuit Court Clerk. KCOJ says only the court clerk can advise where a case record is located and whether it is available. If a record is stored at a facility, the clerk provides case and file locator numbers. State Records Center requests can be sent to state.records@ky.gov or made by calling 502-564-3617, but those archived records cannot be searched by name or Social Security number.
Butler County Circuit Court Clerk
110 North Main Street, P.O. Box 625
Morgantown, KY 42261
270-526-5631
Monday-Friday 8:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
Marriage licenses, deeds, liens, mortgages, fiscal court minutes, and non-court county records are separate County Clerk records. The final Butler County page manifest includes a County Clerk page because Kentucky uses a separate County Clerk for those county-record functions.
For court records, the office distinction prevents a common wrong turn. The Circuit Court Clerk receives lawsuits and court papers, enters judge's orders, receives fines, schedules juries, handles bond money, and keeps the trial-court files. The County Clerk maintains county records such as deeds, mortgages, liens, marriage licenses, fiscal court minutes, tax-related records, elections, and vehicle services. A person looking for a divorce decree, criminal disposition, civil judgment, probate case order, or traffic case record should start with the Circuit Court Clerk. A person looking for a marriage license copy or land-record index should use the County Clerk path.