In 1975, the passage of the Judicial
Amendment to the KY Constitution greatly
change the structure of the state court system. The new system of
organization took effect on 01 January 1978. This inventory,
however, only
describes records created by the judicial system before 1978.
The below-listed courts generated case papers, dockets, order
books, judgment
books and indexes which may be of interest to the researchers.
The original
records have been sent to the State Archives in Frankfort, KY.
However, the
plaintiff and defendant indexes are available on microfilm at the
Jefferson
County Clerk-Micrographics Department. To examine an original
case file, the
record must be brought to Louisville from Frankfort by the Circuit
Court
Clerk.
- Old Circuit Court-Common Law,
1783-1865
- Old Chancery Court, 1781-1835
- Louisville Chancery Court,
1835-1892
- Jefferson Court of Common Pleas,
1865-1892
- Louisville Vice-Chancellor's
Court and Law and Equity Court, 1872-1977
- Jefferson Circuit Court-Criminal
Branch, 1832-1977
- Jefferson Circuit Court-Civil
Branch, 1892-1977
For a history of the early court system in Kentucky, see
Richardson, William C. An Administrative History of Kentucky
Courts to 1850. Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives:
Frankfort, 1983. For a detailed outline of the Court system and
its records prepared just a few years before the change in the
judicial system, see Thomas, Samuel W. "An Inventory of Jefferson
County Records." The Filson Club Historical Quarterly, Vol.44, No.
4, October 1970. The Filson Club: Louisville, Kentucky.
|
