Simpson County County Clerk
The Simpson County Clerk is Austin L. Johnson. The County Clerk site lists the office at 105 East Kentucky Street, Franklin, KY 42134, phone 270-586-8161, email austin.johnson@ky.gov, and office hours Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The county officials page lists the mailing address as P.O. Box 268, Franklin, KY 42135-0268, with secondary phone 270-586-8155 and fax 270-586-6464.
This office is a county office, not the court clerk office. Its work includes recording and administration of official documents, voter registration, vehicle registration channels, marriage licenses, forms, elections, candidate filings, delinquent taxes, and County Clerk open-records access. A person looking for a deed, mortgage, marriage license, or clerk-held county record should not start with the Circuit Court Clerk. A person looking for a divorce decree, criminal case, civil judgment, probate case, or traffic citation should use the Simpson County Circuit Court Clerk.
Simpson County Clerk
Clerk: Austin L. Johnson
105 East Kentucky Street
Franklin, KY 42134
270-586-8161
austin.johnson@ky.gov
Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Simpson County Clerk Duties
The County Clerk page on Simpson County's official government site identifies the office's core work as recording and administration of official documents, voter registration, and vehicle-registration services. The County Clerk website also provides navigation for Motor Vehicles, Records, Recording Fees, Forms, Elections, Candidate Filings, Delinquent Taxes, Marriage Licenses, Contact, Office Hours, and Holiday Closures. That service mix makes the County Clerk an important records office even though it is not the custodian of trial-court case files.
- Issue and maintain records for Simpson County marriage licenses.
- Record eligible official documents and maintain county recording services.
- Provide County Clerk open-records request channels for clerk-held public records.
- Support voter registration, elections, candidate filings, and related county clerk services.
- Provide vehicle registration service channels under the County Clerk office.
Request Simpson County Clerk Records
The Simpson County Clerk records page links an Open Records Request download titled Open-Records-Policy-Simpson. The policy describes several submission channels. Requests may be hand delivered to the clerk during regular office hours, mailed to the address listed in the policy, faxed to 270-586-6464, or emailed to Austin Johnson at austin.johnson@ky.gov. Phone questions may be directed to 270-586-8161.
The active County Clerk website and county officials page list the current visitor office at 105 East Kentucky Street. The policy PDF references 103 W Cedar St. for hand-delivery or mail channels in the captured research. Because of that address difference, requesters should check the current clerk website or call before mailing a payment, request, or original paperwork.
- Confirm that the record is a County Clerk record, not a court, sheriff, jail, or state agency record.
- Describe the public record sought with enough detail for staff to identify it.
- Include requester name, mailing address, and a phone or email contact if helpful.
- Submit by hand delivery, mail, fax, or email using the current clerk instructions.
- Confirm copy cost, certification needs, and mailing instructions before sending payment.
County Clerk Request Fields
The research file included an inventory of Simpson County Clerk open-records policy fields and the Kentucky Attorney General standardized request form. These fields are for county clerk records. They should not be used to bypass the Circuit Court Clerk for court case copies.
| Field or Requirement | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Requester's name | Yes | Standard identity field for an open-records request. |
| Mailing address | Yes | Used for response and delivery information. |
| Email address | Helpful | Not always required, but useful for processing and response. |
| Phone number | Helpful | May help the clerk clarify the request. |
| Records requested | Yes | Must describe the public records to inspect or copy. |
| Kentucky residency statement | Where required | Kentucky open-records law is limited to qualifying residents. |
| Signature and date | Yes | Used for attestation on the standardized form. |
Simpson County Recording Fees
The County Clerk recording-fee page lists county recording fee examples for deeds, mortgages, affidavits, corporate records, liens, and other recorded documents. These are County Clerk recording fees, not court filing fees. Court filing fees, certified court copies, and divorce case documents should be confirmed through the Circuit Court Clerk.
| Document | Category | Minimum Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Affidavit of Conversion to Real Estate | Miscellaneous | $51 |
| Affidavit of Descent | Deed | $50 |
| Affidavit per KRS 382.297 or 382.337 | Deed / Mortgage | $46 |
| Agreement | Deed / Mortgage | $46 |
| Articles and Amended Articles | Corporate Records | $46 |
| Assignment of Mortgage | Miscellaneous | $46 |
| Assignment of Rents | Deed | $50 |
| Assumed Name | Corporate Records | $46 |
Simpson County Marriage Records
The County Clerk is the local office for marriage licenses. Applicants must apply together, complete the worksheet at the start of the process, and both must be 18 or older. Kentucky has no waiting period, blood test, or physical requirement for the license described in the official clerk page. The license is valid for 30 days, including the date issued, and may be used anywhere in Kentucky.
Marriage license questions, certified marriage copies, and County Clerk record requests belong with the County Clerk. Divorce decrees and divorce case files belong with the Circuit Court Clerk because divorce is a Circuit Court matter in Kentucky.
E-Recording and County Records
The County Clerk records page lists e-recording vendors Simplifile and ePN. Simplifile support is shown as phone 800-460-5657, email support@simplifile.com, and website simplifile.com. ePN support is shown as phone 888-325-3365, email support@goepn.com, and website goepn.com. E-recording is a document-recording channel for eligible submitters and does not mean every public record or court record can be searched online through the County Clerk.
The e-recording detail is useful because it shows how some county records enter the clerk's recording system without changing the public access path for ordinary requesters. A title company, lender, law office, or other eligible submitter may use an approved vendor to record an instrument. A member of the public who wants to inspect or copy a recorded document still needs to use the County Clerk's records counter, published records page, or open-records process. That distinction also helps avoid a common records error in Simpson County: a recorded deed, mortgage, affidavit, assumed name, or lien is a County Clerk record, while a lawsuit over title or a court judgment tied to a lien is a court record held through the Circuit Court Clerk.
County Clerk records can overlap with court-related life events without becoming court cases. A marriage begins with a County Clerk license record, while a divorce becomes a Circuit Court file. A recorded document may later be mentioned in a civil case, but the original recording remains with the County Clerk. A delinquent tax or vehicle service question may involve county administration, not a court docket. Sorting the record by custodian first saves time and reduces the chance of sending an open-records request to the wrong Simpson County office.
Note: The County Clerk is the right office for marriage and recording records, while the Circuit Court Clerk keeps Simpson County court case records.