Clay County Circuit Court Clerk

Clay County Clerk Records Office

The primary court-record clerk for Clay County is the Clay County Circuit Court Clerk. Kentucky uses circuit court clerks as the local court-record office for Circuit Court and District Court case files. In Clay County, KCOJ identifies Leslie Phillips as Circuit Court Clerk, and the office is located inside the Clay County Justice Center in Manchester. This is the counter for most public court copies, case-file questions, fines, bond money, jury scheduling, and older court-record routing.

The same office supports several court categories. Circuit Court handles felonies, larger civil cases, divorce, contested probate, land disputes, and appeals from District Court. Family Court handles dissolution, custody, support, paternity, adoption, domestic violence, DNA, termination of parental rights, truancy, and related family matters. District Court handles traffic, misdemeanors, probate, small claims, juvenile cases, lower-value civil cases, ordinance matters, and mental commitments. A Clay County court record request should name the case type when possible because the court category affects the file location, access limits, and copy process.

The Kentucky Court of Justice county information page describes circuit court clerks as the local officials who manage court records and county court offices. The official KCOJ county office page is the source for Clay County court hours, clerk contact data, payment methods, and the disability parking note for permit holders.

KCOJ's county information source is shown in the Clay County Circuit Court Clerk image below.

Clay County Court Clerk Duties

The Circuit Court Clerk is not the same office as the Clay County Clerk. For court records, Leslie Phillips and the circuit clerk staff manage the custody and storage of case files from the court system. They receive lawsuits and court documents, collect court fines and fees, handle bond money, schedule juries, and help route copy requests to the right court record. These duties are tied to the Kentucky Court of Justice, not to the fiscal court recording office.

A court user may contact the Clay County Circuit Court Clerk when a case search does not show enough detail online, when a certified copy is needed, when a payment cannot be resolved through ePay, or when an older record may have moved into stored-record status. The request should be as precise as possible. Names alone may be too broad, especially when an older file has been moved outside the courthouse. KCOJ says the clerk of the court that heard the case is the starting point for Circuit, Family, District, and Business Court record requests.

• Receive and maintain Clay County Circuit, Family, and District Court filings.
• Provide public case-copy access when a record is not sealed, expunged, juvenile, or otherwise restricted.
• Collect court fines, costs, filing fees, and bond money through approved payment methods.
• Help identify whether an older case file is onsite or needs State Records Center locator data.
• Support jury scheduling and local court-office functions listed by KCOJ.

Note: A sealed, expunged, juvenile, adoption, or mental-health record may require party status, attorney status, or a court order.

Request Clay County Clerk Copies

Certified copies are used when a court record must prove that a filed document or order is an official copy from the court file. Common examples include judgments, divorce decrees, sentencing orders, probate orders, and dispositions needed by another agency. Plain copies may be enough for personal review, but agencies and courts often require certification. The safest request names the case number, court, party names, document type, and approximate filing date.

Clay County court records may be searched through KCOJ public tools first, then confirmed through the local clerk. For payment-only needs, KCOJ ePay may be faster than a full copy request. For older records, the clerk may need to determine whether the case is onsite or stored. KCOJ states that State Records Center staff cannot search by name or Social Security number, so the requester may need case and file locator numbers from the clerk before using stored-record request channels.

1. Identify the court and case type: Circuit, Family, District, traffic, probate, criminal, civil, or small claims.
2. Gather names, case number, citation number, filing date, and the exact document needed.
3. Call or visit the Clay County Circuit Court Clerk to confirm public access, copy cost, certification cost, and payment method.
4. Ask whether the record is onsite or requires State Records Center locator numbers for an older file.
5. Submit the request and payment, then confirm whether pickup, mail, or another delivery method is available.

Clay County Records Request Fields

KCOJ's records guidance does not publish a Clay-specific web form for ordinary local court copies, but the research gives a practical field set for a complete request. If the case has been moved to stored records, the KDLA State Records Center ARM-160 request form may require locator data supplied by the court clerk. The local clerk should be contacted before mailing a stored-record request because a name-only request is not enough for the State Records Center.

Clay County Clerk Fee Table

Clay County court payments and copy fees should be confirmed with the Circuit Court Clerk before submission. The KCOJ Clay County page lists cash, check, money order, and online ePay as payment options for the court office. The Kentucky Supreme Court fee order located in the research provides statewide court fee amounts effective July 1, 2026, including copy and certification amounts. Amounts can vary by case type or by later order, so a copy request should ask for the current total before mailing payment.

The Clay County Clerk fee page belongs to Beverly Craft's county clerk office, not to Circuit Court Clerk court-copy fees. It is still relevant for recording and county-record questions. The Clay County Clerk fee page is shown below because it helps mark the split between court clerk fees and county recording fees.

Clay County Court Payments

Court fines, fees, and some payable traffic or criminal cases may be handled through KCOJ ePay. The ePay guide describes case number, party or business, and citation search methods. The live ePay validation noted in the research requires specific combinations: county plus case number for case search, citation year plus control number plus type for citation search, or first name plus last name plus birth date for party search. Cash payments must be made at the circuit clerk's office.

ePay is not a complete copy system. It is useful when the goal is payment, balance lookup, or citation payment eligibility. For certified copies, older file access, sealed-record questions, or documents that do not appear through public search, the Clay County Circuit Court Clerk remains the local records contact. For applicable prepayable matters, KCOJ says the balance must be paid in full at least two days before court.

Clay County Clerk vs Court Clerk

Clay County has a split clerk structure. The Circuit Court Clerk handles court case records. The Clay County Clerk, Beverly Craft, handles county clerk functions such as official documents, property tax bills, voter registration and elections, motor vehicle titling and registration, and marriage licenses. A person asking for a divorce decree, criminal disposition, traffic case, probate order, or civil judgment should start with the Circuit Court Clerk. A person asking for a marriage license, recorded instrument, election matter, motor vehicle title, or county recording fee should use the Clay County Clerk office.

The county clerk site lists Beverly Craft's office at 102 Richmond Road, Suite 101, Manchester, Kentucky, with phone numbers 606-598-2544 and 606-599-0603 appearing in official local sources. The same site gives the email beverly.craft@ky.gov. The official source image below is included because many Clay County record questions are misdirected when the word clerk is used without naming the office.

For marriage licensing and county recording work, use the separate Clay County County Clerk page. For court case records, certified court copies, case payments, and older court files, use the Circuit Court Clerk contact at the Justice Center.

Older Clay County Court Records

Older Clay County court files may need more than a name search. KCOJ's request-court-records guidance says the request should start with the clerk of the court where the case was heard. If a file has moved to the State Records Center, the requester may need case and file locator numbers. The State Records Center cannot search by name or Social Security number, which makes the local clerk's locator role important.

Historical courthouse facts also matter for old references. The Kentucky Historical Society record described in the research notes that the original Clay County courthouse burned in 1936 and was rebuilt in 1939. Older papers, indexes, or citations may refer to older courthouse locations, but current Clay County court-record access runs through the Justice Center and the Circuit Court Clerk.

Note: Official sources located did not publish a Clay-specific online archive for all historic court files.