Simpson County Circuit Court Clerk
The Kentucky Court of Justice Simpson County page names Beth Anne Fiss as Circuit Court Clerk and lists the Office of Circuit Court Clerk at the Simpson County Justice Center, 101 N. Court St., Franklin, KY 42134. The main clerk phones are 270-586-4241 and 270-586-8910, with fax 270-586-0265. This is the court office for Circuit Court and District Court records, docket questions, court-copy access, fines, bonds, and local case-file availability.
Kentucky circuit court clerks have custody, control, and safe storage of Circuit and District Court records. They receive court documents, maintain case records, are present during trials, schedule juries, receive fines, and handle bond money. In Simpson County, this makes the Circuit Court Clerk the correct contact for divorce decrees, criminal case files, civil judgments, traffic case records, probate case files, and District Court misdemeanor or small-claims records. Marriage licenses and recorded instruments go to the separate Simpson County County Clerk.
Office of Circuit Court Clerk
Clerk: Beth Anne Fiss
Simpson County Justice Center
101 N. Court St.
Franklin, KY 42134
270-586-4241 / 270-586-8910
Fax: 270-586-0265
Simpson County Clerk Duties
The Circuit Court Clerk role is tied to court case custody, not all county records. The clerk is the local contact for case files from the two Kentucky trial courts serving Simpson County: Circuit Court and District Court. Circuit Court handles felonies, higher civil cases, divorce, adoption, termination of parental rights, contested probate, and appeals. District Court handles misdemeanors, traffic, small claims, probate administration, juvenile matters, and felony preliminary hearings.
- Maintain Circuit Court and District Court case records for Simpson County.
- Receive lawsuits, pleadings, citations, criminal filings, probate filings, and other court documents.
- Help users request copies or certified copies when the record is available for release.
- Handle court payment channels, including eligible ePay matters and in-office payments.
- Support jury scheduling, bond money, fines, costs, and trial-court administration.
The Simpson County departments index helps show the local split between court records, county clerk records, sheriff records, and detention center records.
The departments listing reinforces that the Circuit Court Clerk is not the same office as the County Clerk, Sheriff, Detention Center, or County Attorney.
Request Certified Simpson County Copies
A certified copy should come from the court clerk when the record is a court case document. Certified copies may be needed for divorce decrees, judgments, probate orders, criminal dispositions, traffic dispositions, or other official case records. KCOJ's statewide request guidance says requests for Circuit, Family, District, and Business Court records start with the clerk of the court that heard the case. In Simpson County, that points users back to the Circuit Court Clerk at the Justice Center.
- Identify the court record type, such as Circuit Court divorce, District Court traffic, probate, criminal, or civil case.
- Gather party names, approximate filing date, case number if known, and the exact document needed.
- Call 270-586-4241 or 270-586-8910 to confirm availability, copy rules, current fee, and whether a visit is required.
- Use KYeCourts or the docket portal only as search aids, then rely on the clerk for certification.
- Bring or send payment in a method the clerk accepts after confirming the amount.
Simpson County Records Request Fields
The research did not identify a Simpson-specific court copy request form with fixed fields. The table below uses the court-record request details supported by the statewide KCOJ guidance and the Simpson County clerk contact information. It avoids adding form fields not found in official materials.
| Field | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Case number | Helpful when known | Speeds clerk lookup and reduces risk of pulling the wrong file. |
| Party names | Yes | Use names as they appeared in the case filing. |
| Court division | Helpful | Circuit or District, if known from KYeCourts, docket, citation, or paperwork. |
| Document type | Yes | Examples include decree, judgment, disposition, order, or probate appointment. |
| Certified or plain copy | Yes | Certification changes the copy type and may change the fee. |
| Requester contact | Yes | Phone or mailing information helps the clerk respond. |
Simpson County Clerk Fees
KCOJ lists payment options at the Simpson County Justice Center as cash, cashier's check, money order, credit card, and debit card, with a fee applying to card payments. The KYeCourts guest page also provides ePay for eligible court payments. The research did not include a Simpson-specific certified-copy fee table for court records, and civil filing fees changed effective July 1, 2026, so fee amounts should be confirmed with the Circuit Court Clerk before filing or ordering copies.
| Item | Current Guidance |
|---|---|
| Plain court copy | Confirm current per-page fee with the Circuit Court Clerk. |
| Certified court copy | Confirm certification and page fees before ordering. |
| Civil filing fee | Confirm current KCOJ fee schedule because statewide fees changed July 1, 2026. |
| Court fines, costs, or fees | Use clerk payment options or KYeCourts ePay where eligible. |
| Card payments | KCOJ says a fee applies to credit and debit card payments. |
Common Simpson County Court Forms
Kentucky Court of Justice legal forms are the researched statewide source for court forms used in civil, criminal, probate, expungement, and related matters. The clerk can tell a user where to file, whether a local case number is required, and whether a filing is accepted in the specific matter. The clerk cannot replace legal advice, but the office can identify court-record availability and filing logistics.
- KCOJ Legal Forms for statewide court form access.
- KCOJ Request Court Records for court record request guidance.
- KCOJ Expungement for expungement certification steps.
- KCOJ Docket Portal for Simpson County hearing-date searches.
Online and Federal Record Limits
KYeCourts guest access provides free statewide public case information and ePay access, but its public landing page is captcha-gated before deeper case-search fields appear. The docket portal is a scheduling tool, not a certified record source. For employment, licensing, or official criminal record reports, users should use KCOJ Background Checks or Kentucky State Police channels instead of relying on a docket printout.
The manifest assigns several federal-court images to the clerk page. Federal courts are separate from Simpson County Circuit and District Court records. Simpson County is in the Western District of Kentucky for federal cases, and federal docket review generally uses PACER. Those systems do not replace the Circuit Court Clerk for local Kentucky case records.
The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky handles federal matters, not Simpson County state trial-court case files.
This federal court source is useful only to separate federal records from Simpson County Circuit Court Clerk records.
The Western District judges page lists federal divisions including Bowling Green.
Federal division information may help users who discover that a case is not in Simpson County state court.
The U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky prosecutes federal criminal matters in the district.
The U.S. Attorney source is included to show that federal prosecutions follow a different record path than Simpson County Circuit Court files.