Title IV, Judicial Branch

the Finance and Administration Cabinet -- Delinquency. (1) Every clerk shall collect all fines and forfeitures imposed in District and Circuit Court, and shall issue receipts therefor. (2) At the close of business daily the clerk in each county shall deposit in a bank designated …

Office of the Courts -- Update of database within ninety days of disposition. Each circuit clerk shall submit to the Administrative Office of the Courts, in a manner prescribed by the Administrative Office of the Courts, the final court disposition. Said disposition shall be incl…

Every clerk shall prepare, attest and certify copies of all documents and records in his office upon payment of the charge established by statute.

Every clerk shall perform such additional duties as may be prescribed by statute or court rule.

determinations -- Administrative Office of the Courts to monthly report the names of persons excused from jury duty to the Attorney General, United States Attorney, and State Board of Elections. (1) Each circuit clerk shall send certified notices of incompetency to the State Boar…

Whenever a vacancy occurs in the office of the clerk, the chief judge of the judicial circuit shall within thirty (30) days appoint a qualified successor to the office who shall serve until replaced as provided by Section 152 of the Constitution.

Upon the resignation, removal from office or expiration of the term of office of a clerk, he shall immediately deliver to his successor, or such other person as the court orders, all books, records, and other papers belonging to his office. For failure to do so he shall be guilty…

Each circuit clerk shall be, ex officio, a special circuit clerk of the Commonwealth, and as such shall perform the duties and services required by KRS 30A.180, at such time and places, coextensive with the Commonwealth, as required by the Chief Justice.

In the event of a vacancy in the office of circuit clerk in any county, the Chief Justice may assign any other circuit clerk in the Commonwealth as special circuit clerk to fill the vacancy for a period not to exceed thirty (30) days, or until a person is appointed to fill the va…

collected. All fees, fines, forfeitures, and costs in any District Court or Circuit Court case shall be collected and accounted for by the Circuit Court clerk and paid into the State Treasury, except that: (1) Sixty percent (60%) of any fines imposed for the violation of KRS Chap…

All moneys which are deposited with the clerk and which are payable to a third person, not the Commonwealth, or which may become payable to such third person as a result of court action or otherwise shall: (1) Be logged in the appropriate record of the clerk and the person paying…

(1) The bank accounts of the circuit clerk authorized by KRS 30A.200 shall accrue interest at such rate per annum upon the average daily deposit on hand at the close of banking hours as may be agreed upon by the bank and the Chief Justice or his designee. Interest accrued shall n…

The Supreme Court shall issue rules relating to the receipt, handling, deposit, and disbursal of moneys by the circuit clerk which are held in accounts covered by KRS 30A.200.

The Court of Justice may expend funds necessary to insure circuit clerks and their deputies against any liability arising out of an act or omission committed in the scope and course of performing legal duties.

check or sight order dishonored. (1) A clerk may, but shall not be required to, accept payment of any fine, forfeiture, tax, or fee by debit or credit card account. If an individual chooses to pay a fine, forfeiture, tax, or fee by debit or credit card account, the clerk may reco…

(1) Each Circuit Judge may appoint a secretary for his circuit. (2) Each secretary shall serve at the pleasure of the judge. (3) The secretary shall meet the qualifications for the position established by the Judicial Personnel System. (4) The secretary shall be compensated accor…

The Chief Justice, through the Administrative Office of the Courts, may authorize the appointment or employment by the chief judge of such secretaries, court reporters, interpreters, court administrators, friends of the court, and other personnel demonstrated as being necessary t…

(1) If a person has been detained in police custody or has been arrested, an interpreter shall be provided prior to any interrogation or taking of a statement from the person if the court determines he meets the criteria set forth in KRS 30A.410. (2) Any statement made by a perso…

(1) Any person appointed as interpreter pursuant to this chapter shall be qualified by training or experience to interpret effectively, accurately, and impartially, both receptively and expressively, using any necessary specialized vocabulary. (2) The Supreme Court shall prescrib…

(1) The court in any matter, criminal or civil, shall appoint a qualified interpreter or interpreters, to be paid out of the State Treasury, for the following categories of persons, whether they are parties, jurors, or witnesses: (a) Persons who because of deafness or hard of hea…

(1) In criminal or civil cases, the Court of Justice shall be responsible for payment, including ordinary and reasonable expenses, for interpretive services for court appearances. (2) In any case in which the interpreter is providing services out of court, even though that servic…

In cases where compensation by the state is required or permitted interpreters' fees and ordinary and reasonable expenses shall be paid out of the State Treasury according to the pay schedule of the Judicial Personnel System.

The duties of the interpreter may include: (1) Interpreting during court and court-related proceedings, including any and all meetings and conferences between client and his attorney; (2) Translating or interpreting documents; (3) Assisting in taking depositions; (4) Assisting in…

communications. Every person who acts as an interpreter in circumstances involving the arrest, police custody or other stage in a criminal, civil, or other matter of a person coming under KRS 30A.410 shall not be examined as a witness regarding conversations between that person a…

(1) In the performance of his duties the interpreter may utilize electronic recording, foreign language translation, and other equipment. A person who is deaf, hard of hearing, or speech impaired may elect to use assistive technology in lieu of or in addition to the services of a…

Independent agency. There is hereby established as an independent agency of state government, attached for administrative purposes to the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, the Department of Public Advocacy, in order to provide for the establishment, maintenance, and operation of…

(1) A master commissioner may be appointed for each county within a judicial circuit. (a) In single-judge circuits the appointment shall be made by the Circuit Judge. (b) In judicial circuits with more than one (1) judge the master commissioner shall be chosen by a majority of th…

Compensation -- Duties. (1) (a) The Public Advocacy Commission shall consist of the following members, none of whom shall be a prosecutor, law enforcement official, or judge, who shall serve terms of four (4) years, except the initial terms shall be established as hereafter provi…

(1) The Department of Public Advocacy shall consist of the public advocate, deputy public advocate, general counsel, assistant public advocates as the public advocate shall deem necessary, and secretarial and other personnel as the public advocate shall deem necessary. (2) (a) Th…

The master commissioner shall execute a bond, with surety approved by the court. The bond shall be recorded in court. He shall execute a special bond when required by the court and no action shall be maintained on his general bond for matters covered by a special bond.

The authority and duties of the Department of Public Advocacy shall include but are not limited to: (1) Administering the statewide public advocacy system created by this chapter or by any other appropriate legislation or court decision; (2) Developing policies and procedures for…

The master commissioner shall take an oath that he will faithfully and honestly discharge the duties of his office.

Number -- Terms -- Compensation. (1) There shall be advisory boards for the Protection and Advocacy Division of the Department of Public Advocacy as set forth in Public Laws 99-319 and 106-402 and their implementing regulations. Each shall be comprised of not more than seventeen …

(1) When the master commissioner is interested as an attorney or party; or (2) When there is other conflict of interest; or (3) When he is otherwise unable to discharge the duties of his office for any reason; the judge of the court before whom the action is pending shall appoint…

Defender Corporation to the department -- Compensation -- Status -- Benefits -- Transfer of property and assets. (1) (a) Effective July 1, 2024, employees of the Louisville and Jefferson County Public Defender Corporation shall be transferred to the Department of Public Advocacy …

(1) Receivers, except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, may be appointed under the same terms and conditions as a master commissioner. (2) Except for personal representatives, guardians, curators and committees for persons of unsound mind, neither a party to an actio…

The following terms and standards shall apply, subject to further definition and regulation by the Department of Public Advocacy: (1) "Defending attorney" means any attorney who is representing a needy or indigent person; (2) "Department" means the Department of Public Advocacy; …

representation and services -- Rights of representation for persons subject to proceedings under KRS Chapter 202C. (1) A needy person who is being detained by a law enforcement officer, on suspicion of having committed, or who is under formal charge of having committed, or is bei…

31.110. The Department of Public Advocacy shall not provide or be compelled to provide legal representation except as authorized in KRS 31.110.

Affidavit of indigency. (1) (a) The determination of whether a person covered by KRS 31.110 is a needy person shall be deferred no later than his or her first appearance in court or in a suit for payment or reimbursement under KRS 31.211, whichever occurs earlier. (b) The court o…

The master commissioner or receiver may use any proof reduced to writing and signed by his predecessor, and may execute any order or judgment which it was the duty of his predecessor to have executed, and which remains unexecuted.

child -- Exceptions. (1) If court-appointed counsel has been provided to a juvenile in any proceeding, the court appointing the counsel shall: (a) Ascertain who has legal custody of the child; and (b) Ascertain whether the person who has legal custody of the child is indigent and…

A person who has been appropriately informed under KRS 31.120 may waive in writing, or by other record, any right provided by this chapter, if the court concerned, at the time of or after waiver, finds of record that he has acted with full awareness of his rights and of the conse…

representation -- Funding responsibility -- Finance and Administration special account and payment. (1) Any defending attorney operating under the provisions of this chapter is entitled to use the same state facilities for the evaluation of evidence as are available to the attorn…

arraignment -- Collection of unpaid partial fee by civil judgment -- Funds placed in special trust and agency account. (1) At arraignment, the court shall conduct a nonadversarial hearing to determine whether a person who has requested a public defender is able to pay a partial f…

Penalty. (1) (a) Except for attorneys appointed pursuant to KRS 31.120, 620.100, 625.041, and 625.080, an attorney providing representation under this chapter shall not accept any fees from any source other than the Department of Public Advocacy for the representation of any need…

(1) It shall be the duty of the attorney providing representation under this chapter to file a notice of appeal after a proceeding from which an appeal is authorized if his or her client requests an appeal. (2) After the trial attorney providing representation under this chapter …

This chapter applies only to representation in the courts of this state, except that it does not prohibit a defending attorney from representing a needy person in a federal court of the United States, if: (1) The matter involves a challenge to the validity, timing, or method of i…

-- Decision of public advocate final. If a court, after finding that the Department of Public Advocacy fails to provide an attorney to a person eligible for representation under KRS Chapter 31, appoints, under the court's inherent authority, an attorney to provide representation …

The protections provided by this chapter do not exclude any protection or sanction that the law otherwise provides.