Lewis County Circuit Court Clerk
Teresa Callahan is listed as the Lewis County Circuit Court Clerk by the Kentucky Court of Justice and the Lewis County government Circuit Clerk page. The office is at the Lewis County Justice Center, 94 Second St., P.O. Box 70, Vanceburg, KY 41179. KCOJ lists phone numbers 606-796-3053 and 606-796-6002. KCOJ hours are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Wednesday from 8 a.m. to noon. The county page lists a different Wednesday closing time, so Wednesday visits should be confirmed by phone.
The Circuit Court Clerk is the records point for Circuit Court, Family Court, District Court, and Business Court case files. That means Lewis County court records for felonies, civil cases, divorce, custody, traffic, misdemeanors, small claims, probate of wills, and District Court preliminary felony proceedings start with this office when a copy or certified record is needed.
Office of Circuit Court Clerk
Clerk: Teresa Callahan
94 Second St., P.O. Box 70
Vanceburg, KY 41179
606-796-3053 / 606-796-6002
Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Wed 8 a.m.-12 p.m.
Lewis County Clerk Duties
The Circuit Court Clerk's role is not the same as the Lewis County Clerk's recording role. The Circuit Court Clerk supports the court case system. The County Clerk records deeds, mortgages, wills as recorded instruments, marriage licenses, elections, vehicles, and related county clerk services. This split is central to finding the right Lewis County record.
- Maintain Circuit, Family, District, and Business Court case records.
- Help locate case files and copy options for Lewis County court matters.
- Process payments and direct eligible users to ePay where appropriate.
- Identify whether old files require State Records Center or KDLA routing.
- Support docket, schedule, and court-date questions within clerk limits.
Search Lewis County Clerk Records
Use the KCOJ public docket search for Lewis County court dates. Use ePay for eligible traffic or payable cases. Use KYeCourts or CourtNet where case-detail access is available. Use the Circuit Court Clerk for certified copies, full file questions, and older-file routing. The clerk can identify when a record is at a records facility and may provide case or file locator numbers needed for a State Records Center request.
- Gather the case number, party names, court division, and approximate filing or court date.
- Check the public docket search if the issue is a hearing date.
- Call or visit the Circuit Court Clerk for copies or certification.
- Ask whether the file is local, at a records facility, or archived.
- Use KDLA or State Records Center only after confirming the file path.
The KDLA records management page is an assigned Circuit Court Clerk image source: KDLA records management contacts.
KDLA is part of the long-term records path when a Lewis County court file is no longer handled only at the local counter.
Lewis County Records Request Form
County agency open-records forms are not the same as a court case copy request, but the researched Lewis County forms are useful when the needed record is held by Fiscal Court, sheriff, jail, or another agency. Court case files remain a judicial branch function through the Circuit Court Clerk. For agency records, the local hard-copy request form asks for residency and purpose information required by Kentucky open-records rules.
| Field | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Name and date of request | Yes | Requester identity and request date. |
| Street, city, state, zip | Yes | Supports residency statement. |
| Email and phone | Optional | Useful for response and electronic copies. |
| Statement of residency | Yes | Kentucky resident, qualifying business, employee, property owner, authorized representative, or news-gathering agency. |
| Records requested | Yes | Itemized description, with extra pages if needed. |
| Format and purpose | Yes | Inspection, electronic copy, disc, pickup or mail, commercial or noncommercial purpose. |
Lewis County Clerk Fees
The research did not locate a Circuit Court Clerk fee schedule for plain or certified court copies. KCOJ lists payment methods for court matters: cash, check, money order, credit cards, debit cards, and ePay where eligible, with a fee applying to card payments. Published agency open-records fees and County Clerk recording fees should not be treated as court-copy fees.
| Item | Published rule |
|---|---|
| Court payment methods | Cash, check, money order, credit/debit card, and ePay where eligible. |
| Card payments | KCOJ says a fee applies. |
| Fiscal Court paper copies | $0.10 per noncommercial page for county agency records. |
| Sheriff paper copies | $0.10 per page under sheriff records rules. |
| Certified court copies | Verify with Circuit Court Clerk. |
Lewis County Clerk Access Laws
Kentucky open-records law applies to many public agencies, but court records also follow judicial access rules. KRS 61.870 defines public-record terms, including resident and commercial purpose. The assigned image below links to that statute source.
KRS 61.872 and KRS 61.878 also matter for inspection rights and exemptions, but juvenile, sealed, expunged, protected-image, adoption, mental health, and confidential case categories may still be restricted.
Lewis County Clerk Schedule Help
The Circuit Court Clerk is also the practical contact for the local court calendar. KCOJ lists District Court on Tuesday, Family Court on Thursday, and Circuit Court on the first and third Friday, with criminal at 9:30 a.m. and civil at 1 p.m. A person checking a traffic ticket, misdemeanor, felony setting, divorce hearing, probate setting, or civil case should use the docket search first and then call the clerk if the date is unclear.
The office also helps distinguish court records from county records. A recorded will, deed, mortgage, lien, or marriage license belongs with the County Clerk. A criminal case, divorce case, traffic case, small claim, probate-of-will case, or contested probate court file belongs with the Circuit Court Clerk's court-record system. That split prevents record requests from being sent to the wrong office.
Certified Lewis County Copies
When requesting a certified copy, provide the case number if known, party names, case type, approximate filing date, and the exact document needed. If the request involves a sealed, juvenile, adoption, mental-health, or protected-image record, the clerk may not be able to release it to the public. A certified copy should be requested from the Circuit Court Clerk rather than downloaded from a general search screen.