Pulaski County Criminal Court Records
A criminal court record is the case-level file that begins once a citation, complaint, indictment, information, or other charging document is filed in court. It is different from the arrest record and different from a jail roster entry. The court file follows the case through arraignment, pretrial hearings, motions, plea, trial if one occurs, disposition, sentencing, costs, and later orders.
In Pulaski County, felony criminal cases belong in Circuit Court. District Court handles misdemeanors, violations, city and county ordinance cases, traffic offenses, felony arraignments, felony probable-cause hearings, bail, and pretrial release. Both court levels operate through Kentucky Court of Justice, and the Pulaski County Circuit Court Clerk keeps the local case records for Circuit, Family, and District Court matters.
| Court | Criminal Role | Record Path |
|---|---|---|
| Circuit Court | Felonies, capital offenses, and appeals from District Court. | Circuit Court Clerk and KYeCourts where public. |
| District Court | Misdemeanors, violations, traffic, ordinances, and early felony proceedings. | Circuit Court Clerk and KCOJ dockets. |
| Family Court | Some domestic violence and juvenile-status matters within family jurisdiction. | Access may be limited by confidentiality rules. |
Search Pulaski County Criminal Cases
The online starting point is KYeCourts guest access for public case information. Hearing dates use the KCOJ docket portal, with Pulaski selected as the county and Circuit or District selected as the division. Certified copies, older records, and questions about sealed or missing files should be directed to Circuit Court Clerk J.S. Flynn's office at the Pulaski County Court of Justice.
- Decide whether the case is likely a felony, misdemeanor, traffic offense, violation, or preliminary felony matter.
- Use KYeCourts guest access for public criminal case information where available.
- Use the KCOJ docket portal to check scheduled hearings by county, division, and date.
- Read the docket entries for arraignment, motions, plea, disposition, sentencing, and payment events.
- Request official copies from the Circuit Court Clerk when the record must be filed, certified, or used in court.
A statewide AOC criminal record report is a different product. It may include misdemeanor and traffic cases for at least five years and felonies back to 1978, but it excludes confidential case types and is not the full Pulaski criminal court case file.
Pulaski County Criminal Case Stages
Criminal court records are easiest to read as a timeline. Charges begin the court case, then the first court event addresses notice, plea, bond, counsel, or scheduling. Later entries may show motions, continuances, plea agreements, trial settings, verdicts, dismissed charges, sentencing orders, and payment or restitution terms.
Case flow: Charges Filed › Arraignment › Pretrial and Motions › Plea or Trial › Disposition › Sentencing
| Stage | What the Pulaski County Record May Show |
|---|---|
| Charges filed | Citation, complaint, indictment, or information begins the case record. |
| Arraignment | Charges are addressed, plea and bond issues may be noted, and future dates may be set. |
| Pretrial and motions | Requests, orders, continuances, discovery issues, and plea negotiations may appear. |
| Plea or trial | The record may show guilty plea, not guilty finding, verdict, dismissal, or other outcome. |
| Disposition and sentencing | Final outcome, jail or prison term, probation, fines, costs, restitution, or other conditions may be recorded. |
What Pulaski Criminal Records Show
The research did not inspect a live Pulaski criminal case detail screen, so the field list should be treated as a typical public case inventory based on KCOJ and AOC context. Public records may show core case information and docket events, while personal identifiers, juvenile matters, sealed entries, expunged matters, mental-health cases, and domestic-violence details may be withheld or redacted.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Case number | The Kentucky court identifier for the criminal case. |
| Defendant | The person charged, when the name is public. |
| Charge | The filed allegation, statute, severity, or charging description. |
| Bond or release | Bond amount, conditions, or release status when public. |
| Docket events | Arraignment, hearings, motions, plea, trial, continuances, orders, and sentencing entries. |
| Disposition | Guilty plea, verdict, dismissal, acquittal, amended charge, or other outcome. |
| Sentence | Jail, prison, probation, fines, costs, restitution, or other court-ordered terms. |
Pulaski County Criminal Prosecutors
Kentucky does not use the title District Attorney. Felony-level prosecutions for Pulaski County involve the 28th Judicial Circuit Commonwealth's Attorney. The Kentucky Attorney General directory identifies Hon. David Dalton as Commonwealth's Attorney for the circuit that includes Lincoln, Pulaski, and Rockcastle Counties. The research lists phone 606-677-4100 and notes an address conflict between sources on the exact suite, so exact mail should be verified before use.
Misdemeanor, county-level, and other statutory county attorney functions involve the Pulaski County Attorney's Office, led by Martin L. Hatfield. The County Attorney's office is relevant when a lower-level criminal or traffic charge is prosecuted locally. Charge-specific detail belongs with the arrest-to-charge pathway, while the full outcome remains in the criminal court record.
Pulaski County Attorney's Office
103 South Maple Street
Somerset, KY 42501
606-679-4449
Fax: 606-678-2635
Charges vs Convictions
A charge is an accusation filed in court. A conviction is a finding or plea of guilt. Pulaski County criminal court records may show charges that were later reduced, amended, dismissed, or resolved by acquittal. Do not treat the first charge listed in a case as the final outcome unless the disposition shows a guilty plea, verdict, or conviction entry.
| Charge | Conviction | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | A filed allegation by citation, complaint, information, or indictment. | A guilty plea, guilty verdict, or conviction disposition. |
| Timing | Appears early in the case. | Appears after plea, trial, or final court action. |
| Can change? | May be amended, reduced, dropped, or dismissed. | May later be appealed, vacated, or expunged if legally eligible. |
Note: The Pulaski County arrest and charge pathway is separate from the final criminal case disposition.
Sealed and Expunged Criminal Records
Sealed records are hidden from ordinary public access by court order or law. Expunged records are removed from public view under Kentucky's expungement process. The research notes KRS 431.076 for acquittals, certain dismissals, and charges not resulting in indictment or information, and KRS 431.073 for certain eligible felony conviction expungements.
| Sealed | Expunged | |
|---|---|---|
| Public access | Limited or blocked while the seal applies. | Removed from ordinary public access after the order. |
| Common basis | Confidential case type, court order, or protected information. | Statutory eligibility and court approval. |
| Pulaski filing point | The court where the case was handled. | The court where the case was handled. |
Pulaski Criminal Records Access
For public criminal court records, start with KYeCourts guest access, the KCOJ docket portal, and the Pulaski Circuit Court Clerk. For Kentucky statewide criminal record reports, use the AOC Records Unit process. For police reports, incident reports, or booking records, the source may be the Pulaski County Sheriff's Department, a city police department, or the Pulaski County Detention Center rather than the court clerk.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky is relevant only for federal criminal prosecutions.
Federal criminal records use federal court systems and prosecutors, while Pulaski County criminal court records in state cases remain in Kentucky Court of Justice channels.
Restricted Pulaski Criminal Records
Juvenile court records are restricted under KRS 610.340, and AOC criminal record reports do not include juvenile cases. Mental-health cases and domestic-violence cases are also excluded from AOC criminal reports. Adoption records, sealed files, expunged cases, and personal identifiers are not ordinary public criminal court records.
For correction of an apparent record error, the research points to two possible routes. Some AOC report issues can be handled by the AOC Records Unit. Issues in the underlying case file may require the Pulaski Circuit Court Clerk because the county court file is the source record.
Pulaski Criminal Defense Records
The court record may show counsel entries, appointed-counsel activity, continuances, motions, and orders, but it does not provide legal advice. Kentucky's Department of Public Advocacy provides public defense for indigent persons accused of crimes or facing loss of liberty. The research identifies the DPA Somerset Trial Office as serving McCreary, Pulaski, Rockcastle, Russell, and Wayne Counties, with Dylan Gorski listed as directing attorney in the source material.
Custody records should be kept separate from the criminal court file. A person arrested by the Pulaski County Sheriff's Office, Somerset Police Department, Burnside Police Department, Science Hill Police Department, Eubank Police Department, Ferguson Police Department, or Kentucky State Police may be booked at the Pulaski County Detention Center. The jail roster and booking record can show custody status, while the court record shows charges, hearings, pleas, dispositions, and sentencing.
Older Pulaski Criminal Files
Older Pulaski County criminal court records may not appear in a quick online search. KCOJ says a case file may be in the local clerk's office, at a records facility, or unavailable under retention schedules depending on age and type. If the file is public and stored off-site, the Circuit Court Clerk must provide the case and file locator numbers before the State Records Center can process the request.
Expungement can also affect older criminal searches. If an eligible Kentucky charge or conviction has been expunged, public tools may not show the record even though the person remembers the case. That is different from a website outage or search spelling issue. For Pulaski County, expungement questions and certified-copy requests should start with the court that handled the case or with qualified counsel.