Daviess County Circuit Court Overview
Kentucky's court structure runs from the Supreme Court of Kentucky to the Kentucky Court of Appeals, then to Circuit Court and District Court. Circuit Court is the general-jurisdiction trial court. In Daviess County, that means felony criminal cases, civil cases over $5,000, divorce, adoption, termination of parental rights, real-property title disputes, contested probate, injunctions, writs, District Court appeals, and administrative-agency appeals. The county is in the 6th Judicial Circuit and the 6th Judicial District.
District Court remains important because it handles many first-contact court matters. Daviess District Court hears misdemeanors, violations, traffic offenses, city and county ordinances, small claims of $2,500 or less, civil cases of $5,000 or less, probate of wills, juvenile matters, mental-health commitments, domestic violence or abuse cases, felony arraignments, and felony probable-cause hearings. Family Court is a division of Circuit Court in Daviess County, so family cases stay within the Circuit Court structure while using dedicated family divisions.
Daviess County Circuit Court Divisions
The Kentucky Court of Justice Daviess County page places Circuit, Family, District, traffic, criminal, probate, small claims, and bookkeeping functions at the Morton J. Holbrook Judicial Center. The same court page identifies the clerk, judges, division phones, parking, accessibility, payment methods, and local office hours. The Circuit Court Clerk, Jennifer Hardesty Besecker, is the local court-records custodian for Circuit, Family, and District Court case files.
| Court / Division | Type | Address | Phone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Circuit Court Division 1, Judge Bryce Lowry Caldwell | Felony, civil, Circuit Court matters | Holbrook Judicial Center, 100 E. Second St., Owensboro, KY 42303 | 270-687-7329 |
| Circuit Court Division 2, Judge David C. Payne | Felony, civil, Circuit Court matters | Holbrook Judicial Center, 100 E. Second St., Owensboro, KY 42303 | 270-687-7330 |
| Family Court Division 3, Judge Jennifer Hendricks | Family Court division of Circuit Court | Holbrook Judicial Center, 100 E. 2nd St., Suite 356, Owensboro, KY 42302 | 270-689-0169 |
| Family Court Division 4, Chief Circuit Judge Angela Thompson | Family Court division of Circuit Court | Holbrook Judicial Center, 100 E. 2nd St., Owensboro, KY 42302 | 270-687-7220 |
| District Court Division 1, Judge Misty L. Miller | Lower trial court | 100 E. Second St., Owensboro, KY 42303 | 270-687-7216 |
| District Court Division 2, Judge Brian L. Quattrocchi | Lower trial court | Holbrook Judicial Center, 100 E. 2nd St., Owensboro, KY 42303 | 270-687-7214 |
| District Court Division 3, Judge Shannon L. Meyer | Lower trial court | Holbrook Judicial Center, 100 E. 2nd St., Owensboro, KY 42303 | 270-687-7217 |
| District Traffic/Criminal Clerk Division | Traffic, misdemeanors, criminal counter | Holbrook Judicial Center, 100 E. 2nd St., Owensboro, KY 42302-0277 | 270-687-7200 |
| Probate Clerk Division | District probate filings and contested probate routing | Holbrook Judicial Center, 100 E. 2nd St., Owensboro, KY 42302-0277 | 270-687-7207 |
| Small Claims/Civil Clerk Division | Small claims and District civil matters | Holbrook Judicial Center, 100 E. 2nd St., Owensboro, KY 42302-0277 | 270-687-7205 |
Daviess County Circuit Court Location
The Holbrook Judicial Center is at 100 E. 2nd St., P.O. Box 277, Owensboro, KY 42302-0277. The office hours listed by Kentucky Court of Justice are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The receptionist number is 270-687-7333. Payment options at the judicial center include cash, money order, personal check from Daviess County residents, certified check, cashier's check, credit or debit card with a fee, and online ePay.
Daviess County's court and county-government offices are split between downtown Owensboro buildings. Court users go to Holbrook Judicial Center for Circuit Court, Family Court, District Court, traffic, criminal, probate, small claims, and bookkeeping. County government users go to 212 St. Ann Street for the Daviess County Clerk, Sheriff's administrative office, tax functions, and other county offices. Free two-hour garage parking is listed at 112 Daviess St.; all-day garage parking is listed at 414 W. 2nd St., four blocks away, with the first two hours free. The judicial center has an east-side elevator and equipped bathrooms.
The Daviess County Detention Center open-records page is not a Circuit Court case-file source, but it shows how a separate county record holder handles jail records connected to some criminal cases.
That distinction matters because the Circuit Court Clerk keeps the court case file, while the jail handles booking and detention records through its own request rules.
Circuit Court vs District Court
Daviess County does not use a separate county court or justice of the peace court for Kentucky trial-court records. The local split is Circuit Court, Family Court as a Circuit Court division, and District Court. Appeals from District Court go to Circuit Court. Appeals from Circuit Court and Family Court generally go to the Kentucky Court of Appeals, with possible review by the Supreme Court of Kentucky.
| Point | Circuit Court | District Court | Family Court Division |
|---|---|---|---|
| Civil limits | Civil matters over $5,000, title disputes, injunctions, writs, and agency appeals | Civil cases of $5,000 or less and small claims of $2,500 or less | Family-law civil matters assigned to the Circuit Court family division |
| Criminal role | Felonies and capital offenses | Misdemeanors, violations, traffic offenses, arraignments, and probable-cause hearings | Domestic violence and related family matters within family jurisdiction |
| Family cases | General Circuit Court authority includes divorce and adoption | Domestic violence or abuse and juvenile matters may be in District Court | Divorce, custody, support, paternity, adoption, dependency, neglect, abuse, termination of parental rights, runaway, and truancy cases |
| Appeal path | Kentucky Court of Appeals | Daviess Circuit Court | Kentucky Court of Appeals |
Daviess County Case Flow
A Daviess County Circuit Court record often begins before the file reaches final judgment. A felony may start with an arrest, citation, or complaint in District Court, then move through a probable-cause hearing before a felony indictment or information places it in Circuit Court. A civil case starts with a complaint or petition, then proceeds through service, answer, motions, discovery, orders, and judgment. A family case may involve related divorce, custody, support, and protection-order issues that are kept before one family judge when possible.
Criminal flow: Arrest or citation › District Court first appearance › probable-cause hearing › indictment or information › Circuit Court arraignment › pretrial motions › plea or trial › sentencing › appeal.
Civil flow: Complaint or petition filed › summons and service › answer › motions or discovery › mediation if ordered › trial or settlement › judgment › enforcement or appeal.
Family flow: Petition filed › temporary orders if needed › service and response › hearings or mediation › final order › post-judgment enforcement or modification.
The full case file and certified copies are handled through the Circuit Court Clerk. Online users can start with Daviess County court records, then confirm official file access with the division tied to the case type.
Daviess County Circuit Court Records
Circuit Court records may include complaints, petitions, indictments, informations, motions, orders, judgments, sentencing entries, appeals, and clerk memos. Family Court records may include divorce pleadings, custody orders, support orders, adoption filings, dependency or neglect filings, domestic violence matters, and termination-of-parental-rights records. Not all family material is public. Adoption, juvenile, dependency, neglect, abuse, mental-health, sealed, and expunged records require careful handling because Kentucky statutes and court orders can restrict access.
District Court records form part of the same local court system but cover a different level of case. Traffic citations, misdemeanors, violations, small claims, probate of wills, civil cases within the District Court limit, and felony preliminary proceedings are District Court matters. The District Traffic/Criminal phone number, 270-687-7200, is the first local phone for many citation and misdemeanor questions. Court dates can be checked through the Kentucky docket lookup, but that public docket warns that results are not an official docket and may change.
The CorrectPay service linked by Daviess jail materials concerns detention-center video visits and deposits, not Daviess County Circuit Court case access.
Payment or account tools tied to the jail should not be confused with court fines, costs, ePay, or clerk-issued case copies.
Daviess County Circuit Court Access
For case records, the Kentucky Court of Justice says AOC does not maintain local court case files. Requests for copies and inspection start with the clerk of the court that heard the case. In Daviess County, the Circuit Court Clerk is the correct office for Circuit, Family, District, traffic, criminal, civil, probate, small claims, and court-docket records. Older files may be at the clerk's office, at a records facility, or destroyed under retention schedules. If a public file is stored offsite, the clerk can provide case and file locator numbers for a State Records Center request.
The Kentucky jail commissary vendor page is another example of a public-facing service that may appear near court-related issues without being a court-records system.
Use the clerk for case files and clerk-certified records; use jail channels only for custody, commissary, visitation, or detention-specific records.
Kentucky public-record access is also limited by exemptions. KRS 61.872 allows Kentucky residents to inspect public records unless an exception applies. KRS 61.878 permits agencies to withhold exempt or confidential material and separate nonexempt material when possible. Juvenile court records are confidential under KRS 610.340, and expungement statutes can remove eligible records from public systems.
Note: The Daviess County Clerk at 212 St. Ann Street handles marriage licenses, land records, vehicles, elections, passports, and eCCLIX indexed records, not Circuit Court case files.
Daviess County Court Context
The official Daviess County Sheriff app is a local public-safety communication channel tied to the office of Sheriff Brad Youngman. Store descriptions advertise communication, crime reporting, tip submission, interactive features, and public-safety news. The research did not confirm an app-only warrant search or inmate search, so the app should be treated as a public-safety tool rather than a Circuit Court lookup. Court records still route through KYeCourts, the docket search, and the Circuit Court Clerk.
The Apple listing for the Daviess County Sheriff app identified the app as current public-safety software for local users.
That app context is useful for local safety notices, but it is not a substitute for a court docket, a clerk-certified case file, or an official citation payment record.
The Google Play listing for the Daviess County Sheriff app also describes public-safety communication and tip features.
When a court date, charge, disposition, or case-copy question is involved, the official path remains the Kentucky Court of Justice system and the Daviess Circuit Court Clerk.