Rowan County Circuit Court Clerk
The Kentucky Court of Justice county page lists Kim Barker Tabor as the Circuit Court Clerk for Rowan County. The office is at the Rowan County Judicial Center, 700 W. Main St., Morehead, KY 40351. The published phone number is 606-783-8505, and the fax number is 606-783-8504. KCOJ lists office hours as Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
KCOJ says court case records for Circuit, Family, District, and Business Court matters should be requested from the Office of Circuit Court Clerk in the county where the case was handled. For Rowan County, that makes the Circuit Court Clerk the starting point for Circuit Court files, District Court files, traffic case records, misdemeanor files, felony files, divorce files, probate matters heard in District Court, and related dockets.
The courthouse page also gives practical visit details. KCOJ lists parking on the side of the Judicial Center, designated disability-permit parking, an elevator, and equipped bathrooms. The research did not locate a local security policy, phone policy, recording rule, or locker list, so visitors with large bags, recording equipment, or unusual items should call the clerk before arrival.
Public access also depends on the type of case. Ordinary public case records may be available through clerk request, docket lookup, or KYeCourts access, but juvenile, adoption, termination-of-parental-rights, mental health, domestic violence, sealed, and expunged records may be restricted. The clerk can identify the access path for a specific case without turning a restricted file into a public record.
Rowan Circuit Court Clerk
Clerk: Kim Barker Tabor
Rowan County Judicial Center
700 W. Main St., Morehead, KY 40351
606-783-8505
Fax: 606-783-8504
Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m.
The Rowan County Clerk open-records policy is a separate county-clerk source and does not replace Circuit Court Clerk access for court case files.
The image is useful here because Rowan County has two clerk offices with different record sets.
What the Clerk Handles
The Circuit Court Clerk is the local court-record custodian for cases heard in the Rowan County trial-court system. That includes records produced in Circuit Court, Family Court jurisdiction where applicable, and District Court. KYeCourts and public docket tools may display some information, but official copies and older-file questions still return to the clerk of the court that handled the case.
- Circuit Court felony, higher civil, divorce, adoption, contested probate, injunction, and appeal records.
- District Court traffic, misdemeanor, violation, ordinance, probate of wills, juvenile, small-claims, and domestic violence/abuse matters.
- Docket and court-date questions that cannot be resolved online.
- Certified copies of public case records when the file is available for release.
- Older case-file routing when a record is offsite, archived, or subject to retention limits.
Request Certified Copies
A certified copy is a copy authenticated by the clerk as a true court record. It may be needed for legal filings, licensing, employment review, expungement work, or personal proof of a case outcome. For Rowan County court records, the strongest request includes the case number, court or division, party names, document type, and whether a certified or plain copy is needed.
- Identify the case type and decide whether it belongs with the Circuit Court Clerk or the Rowan County Clerk.
- Search the KCOJ docket or KYeCourts public access path if a case number or date is unknown.
- Call or visit the Circuit Court Clerk at the Judicial Center with party names and case details.
- Ask whether the record is public, onsite, offsite, sealed, expunged, or subject to redaction.
- Confirm the current copy and certification fee before paying.
- Request pickup, mail, or any other delivery method the clerk allows for that record.
The Rowan Fiscal Court open records form is not the normal court-record request form, but it shows the county's non-court public-record request channel.
Use that fiscal-court channel for county administrative records, not for certified court case copies held by the Circuit Court Clerk.
Records Request Fields
KCOJ does not describe a single Rowan-specific court-record request form in the research. The local court clerk request should still include enough data for staff to identify the case and document. For county administrative records, the Rowan Fiscal Court form captured in the research asks for requester identity, record description, commercial-purpose statement, Kentucky-residency basis, signature, and date.
| Field | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Case number | Best if available | Needed for precise court-record lookup and offsite retrieval. |
| Party names | Yes | Use petitioner/respondent, plaintiff/defendant, or Commonwealth/defendant names. |
| Court or division | Best if available | Circuit, Family, District, appellate, or other known division. |
| Document type | Yes | Order, decree, docket, disposition, petition, judgment, or certified copy. |
| Requester contact information | Yes | Name, mailing address, phone, or email for response and fee notice. |
| Commercial purpose statement | For open-records forms | Required on the captured Fiscal Court form. |
| Kentucky residency basis | For open-records forms | Required on the captured Fiscal Court form. |
| Signature and date | For open-records forms | Attestation and request date. |
Clerk Fees and Payments
The research did not provide a current Rowan Circuit Court Clerk certified-copy fee table. It did provide court payment methods and County Clerk open-record copy fees. Court filing fees were also flagged for statewide changes effective July 1, 2026, so static civil filing amounts should be checked against current KCOJ schedules before use.
| Item | Published Note |
|---|---|
| Court in-person payment | Cash, local check, money order, or credit/debit card with fee. |
| Court phone payment | Credit/debit card with fee. |
| Prepayable offense by mail | Cashier's check or money order with citation copy or proof. |
| Bond | Cash or cashier's check. |
| ePay | Available for eligible court fines, costs, and fees. |
| Certified court copy | Confirm current amount with the Circuit Court Clerk. |
Other Rowan Records Offices
Public access in Rowan County depends on the owner of the record. Court case records run through KCOJ and the Circuit Court Clerk. County Clerk records include deeds, mortgages, marriage licenses, wills, and recorded instruments. Fiscal Court records use the Fiscal Court custodian. Sheriff, jail, Morehead Police, KSP, DOC, and city records each have separate request channels.
The Morehead public records request page is relevant when the record belongs to the city rather than the courts.
City police or telecommunications records should not be routed to the Circuit Court Clerk unless a court case has already been filed.
The Morehead open records form is another non-court request channel for city records.
This office-by-office split is why court records, county-clerk records, and city records should be requested through separate paths.
Older court records add one more layer. KCOJ says a case file may be at the local clerk's office, at a records facility, or destroyed under retention schedules. If the file is at a records facility and is publicly available, the clerk can provide the case and file locator numbers needed before the State Records Center will process the request.