Kentucky Free Public Records Directory

The state of Kentucky, officially known as the Commonwealth of Kentucky is located in the southeastern interior region of the United States. There are four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth; Virginia, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Kentucky. Kentucky is divided into 120 counties and contains 40,409 sq. miles, making it the 37th largest state in size. Kentucky borders seven states with West Virginia lying to the east, Virginia to the southeast, Tennessee to the south, Missouri to the west, Illinois and Indiana to the northwest, and Ohio to the north and northeast. The Ohio River forms Kentucky’s northern border and the Mississippi River forms its western border.

There are five primary regions of Kentucky. One of the major regions in Kentucky is the Bluegrass Region in central Kentucky. The Bluegrass Region is commonly divided into two regions, the Inner Bluegrass, the 90 mile area around the city of Lexington, and the Outer Bluegrass, the region that contains most of the northern portion of the state. Kentucky’s nickname “Bluegrass State,” is based on the bluegrass found in many its pastures due to its fertile soil.

Kentucky has a diverse environment and abundant resources. It has more navigable miles of water than any other state, other than Alaska, with approx. 90,000 miles of streams. It also has an expansive park system. There are four distinct weather seasons in Kentucky but it rarely experiences the extreme cold of the northern states, nor the high heat of the Deep South states. Generally, Kentucky has relatively humid, warm rainy summers and moderately cold and snowy winters.

The area known as Kentucky, as of the 16th century, was home to tribes from five different culture groups. Today, there are two state recognized tribes in Kentucky, the Southern Cherokee Nation of Kentucky and the Ridgetop Shawnee. On December 31, 1776, a region of Virginia beyond the Appalachian Mountains was established as Kentucky County. It was abolished on June 30, 1780, and was divided into three separate counties. Kentucky became the 15th state to join the Union on June 1, 1792. Currently, Kentucky has an estimated population of 4,436,947, making it the 26th most populous state. Its total population has grown during every decade since records have been kept. Louisville is the largest city, and including the metropolitan area, it has a population of 1,269,702. The state capital is located in the city of Frankfort, in Franklin County.

Kentucky has historically been known for its excellent farming conditions. It ranks 5th in goat farming, 8th in beef cattle production, and 14th in corn production. Due to the high calcium content of the soil in the Bluegrass Region, Kentucky is a major horse breeding and racing area. It has long been a major center of the tobacco industry, both as a business center and tobacco farming. It ranks 4th in the country for the number of automobiles and trucks assembled. Lastly, ninety-five percent of the world’s supply of bourbon whiskey is produced in Kentucky. The number of barrels of bourbon being aged in Kentucky (more than 5.7 million) exceeds the state’s population.^[1]

The variety of available public records for Kentucky can be searched by record type using the list below. The list is sorted by the following categories: property records, vital records, community health and safety records, jobs and employment records, licensing records, criminal and court records, and code and regulation records.

Abbreviation	KY
Capital	Frankfort
Population	4,454,189 (2017 est.)
Area size	40,409 sq. mi.
Demonym	Kentuckian
Primary languages spoken	English
Governor	Matt Bevin
Lieutenant Governor	Jenean Hampton
U.S. Senators	Mitch McConnell, Rand Paul
U.S. House Delegation	5 Republicans, 1 Democrat
Time Zone - Eastern Half - Western Half	Eastern: UTC -5/-4 Central: UTC -6/-5

*The map and data in the table are from Wikipedia.

Browse by Public Record Category

There are two types of public records; 1) personal public records that document major life milestones such as birth certificates, death certificates, divorce records, and marriage records, etc.; and 2) government records that are made public such as property tax records, recorded land records, voter records, crime data, jail inmate records, and court records. The Freedom of Information Act is a national law that releases government agency public records and makes it possible to view most public records.^[2] Public records are those materials prepared, owned, used, possessed, maintained or retained by state and local government agencies that must be open for public inspection unless the records are excluded by any of the 14 exemptions in the Kentucky Open Records Act.^[3]

Since there are a multitude of records available, it can be difficult to know how or where to access them. When you are ready to start your search, you’ll find our Public Records Directory website easy to use since all of the records can be searched by federal, state, county, city, town or type of record. The links provided will connect you to the best website for the record search, provide details about the record, or provide contact information for those records without search capabilities.