Lyon County Circuit Court System
Lyon County is in Kentucky's 56th Judicial Circuit and 56th Judicial District with Caldwell, Livingston, and Trigg counties. The local courthouse point for both Circuit Court and District Court is the Lyon County Judicial Center at 500 West Dale Avenue in Eddyville. The Office of Circuit Court Clerk is in Suite A and is the records counter for both trial-court levels.
Kentucky's hierarchy starts with the Supreme Court of Kentucky, then the Kentucky Court of Appeals, then Circuit Court and District Court as trial courts. Lyon County belongs to the 1st Supreme Court District and the 1st Appellate District. The local court structure matters because the same person or event can create records in more than one level, such as a felony preliminary hearing in District Court followed by a Circuit Court felony case.
Lyon County Judicial Center
Circuit Court Clerk: Kimberly Duncan
500 West Dale Ave., Suite A
P.O. Box 565
Eddyville, KY 42038
Circuit: 270-388-7231
District: 270-388-2727
Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-4 p.m.
Lyon County Court Judges
The Kentucky Court of Justice Lyon County page lists the local and appellate officials tied to Lyon County. Circuit judges handle general-jurisdiction cases for the 56th Judicial Circuit. District judges handle the limited-jurisdiction docket for the 56th Judicial District. The table also includes appellate officials because appeals from local trial courts move into the Kentucky appellate system.
| Court / office | Judge or official | Division / district | Address / phone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Supreme Court | Justice Shea Nickell | 1st Supreme Court District | Statewide appellate court |
| Court of Appeals | Deputy Chief Judge J. Christopher McNeill | 1st Appellate District, Division 1 | Appellate C-Track access online |
| Court of Appeals | Judge Lisa P. Jones | 1st Appellate District, Division 2 | Appellate C-Track access online |
| Circuit Court | Chief Circuit Judge James R. Redd III | 56th Judicial Circuit, Division 1 | Lyon County Judicial Center, 270-388-7231 |
| Circuit Court | Judge Natalie White | 56th Judicial Circuit, Division 2 | Lyon County Judicial Center, 270-388-7231 |
| District Court | Judge Roger Brandon Knoth | 56th Judicial District, Division 1 | Lyon County Judicial Center, 270-388-2727 |
| District Court | Judge Matt Schalk | 56th Judicial District, Division 2 | Lyon County Judicial Center, 270-388-2727 |
| Circuit Court Clerk | Kimberly Duncan | Lyon County Circuit Court Clerk | Suite A, 500 West Dale Ave., Eddyville, KY 42038 |
Lyon County Court Comparison
Circuit Court is the primary trial court page for this project because Kentucky's map resolves Lyon County's main trial-court page to Circuit Court. District Court still matters because many traffic, misdemeanor, probate, and small civil records start there. Appellate and federal courts are separate record systems, not offices inside the Lyon County courthouse.
| Feature | Circuit Court | District Court | Appellate / federal courts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main role | Kentucky general-jurisdiction trial court. | Kentucky limited-jurisdiction trial court. | Review or separate federal jurisdiction. |
| Civil cases | Civil matters over $5,000, title disputes, injunctions, writs, administrative appeals. | Civil cases of $5,000 or less and small claims of $2,500 or less. | Kentucky appeals through state appellate courts; federal civil cases through Western District of Kentucky. |
| Criminal cases | Felonies and capital offenses after preliminary stages. | Misdemeanors, violations, traffic, city and county ordinances, felony arraignments and probable-cause hearings. | Federal crimes are prosecuted in U.S. District Court, not Lyon Circuit Court. |
| Family / probate | Divorce, adoption, termination of parental rights, contested probate. | Probate of wills, domestic violence, juvenile, mental commitments. | Appeals use Kentucky Court of Appeals or Supreme Court; bankruptcy uses federal bankruptcy court. |
| Records contact | Circuit Court Clerk, 270-388-7231. | District phone through Circuit Court Clerk, 270-388-2727. | Appellate C-Track or PACER/CM-ECF depending on court. |
Lyon County Case Flow
A case can move across courts when Kentucky law assigns preliminary or appeal steps to a different level. A felony may start with a complaint, warrant, arrest, first appearance, or preliminary hearing in District Court, then move into Circuit Court after indictment or transfer. A small civil case may stay in District Court, while an appeal from District Court goes to Circuit Court.
Felony flow: Complaint or arrest › District Court first appearance › preliminary hearing or indictment path › Circuit Court arraignment › motions and plea or trial › sentencing › Kentucky appellate review if filed.
Civil flow: Claim or petition filed › service and answer › hearing or motion practice › judgment › post-judgment collection or appeal. Lower-dollar civil and small claims remain in District Court unless an appeal or related Circuit issue changes the path.
For copy requests after a case moves, start with the Lyon County Circuit Court Clerk because that office maintains both Circuit and District records.
Lyon County Court Schedules
KCOJ lists Circuit Court Motion Rule Day as the first Monday unless it is a holiday, then the third Monday. Judge Natalie White's schedule places civil cases with even numbers at 9 a.m., child support at 9:30 a.m., and criminal cases with even numbers at 1 p.m. Judge James Redd's schedule places civil cases with odd numbers at 1 p.m. and criminal cases with odd numbers at 9 a.m.
District Court scheduling is grouped differently. Probate, District Civil, and Small Claims are Monday at 1 p.m. District Criminal and Juvenile are Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. The Lyon page says there is no District Court on the fifth Wednesday of the month. Online docket checks are helpful, but the clerk should confirm any setting because KCOJ warns that docket information is not official and may change.
Lyon County Appeals and Federal Courts
Appeals from District Court go to the local Circuit Court. Appeals from Circuit Court or Family Court generally go to the Kentucky Court of Appeals. The Supreme Court of Kentucky sits above the Court of Appeals. Appellate case lookup is separate from local trial court record access and uses Kentucky appellate public access rather than the Lyon County counter.
Federal cases are also separate. Lyon County is in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky under 28 U.S.C. 97. Federal criminal prosecutions, federal-question civil suits, diversity cases, prisoner civil-rights cases, Social Security appeals, habeas matters, and federal agency litigation are not held by Kimberly Duncan's office. Bankruptcy records are handled by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Kentucky.
The first resolved Circuit Court image comes from the PACER lookup for the Western District of Kentucky Bankruptcy Court.
That image marks the federal bankruptcy channel, which is distinct from Lyon County Circuit Court and District Court records.
Lyon County Circuit Prosecution
Kentucky uses Commonwealth's Attorneys for felony prosecution in Circuit Court and County Attorneys for misdemeanors, traffic-level criminal matters, juvenile matters, and other District Court prosecutions. The Attorney General's directory lists Hon. Carrie Ovey-Wiggins as Commonwealth's Attorney for the 56th Circuit covering Caldwell, Livingston, Lyon, and Trigg counties. The address is 248 Commerce Street, P.O. Box 679, Eddyville, KY 42038, phone 270-388-9494, and fax 270-388-9480.
Lyon County Attorney Lee Wilson handles local county-attorney duties. The county page says that office serves as legal adviser to the Fiscal Court, collects court-ordered child support payments, and prosecutes misdemeanor crimes including DUIs, assaults, bad checks, thefts, juvenile offenses, and other statutory offenses. Public defense is through the Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy, and court users should ask at first appearance or arraignment about appointed counsel eligibility.
The second resolved Circuit Court image comes from the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky.
Federal prosecution belongs to the U.S. Attorney, while Lyon County felony and misdemeanor prosecutions use Kentucky state and county prosecutor roles.
Western District Records
The U.S. Attorney's district page says the Western District includes 53 Kentucky counties and two military facilities, Fort Knox and Fort Campbell, and is divided into Louisville, Owensboro, Bowling Green, and Paducah jury divisions. The research recommends verifying with the federal clerk before assigning a particular divisional courthouse to a specific case.
The third resolved Circuit Court image comes from the Western District of Kentucky district description.
That district description is useful only for federal cases; it does not change the Lyon County Circuit Court and District Court record request path.
Lyon County Court Access
For local trial-court records, the clerk remains the main authority. Online tools include the Kentucky Trial Court Docket portal, ePay for payable court cases and citations, CourtNet 2.0 where login access applies, and appellate public access for state appeals. Complete copies, certified copies, older files, sealed-status questions, and offsite records still require contact with the clerk.
The fourth resolved Circuit Court image comes from 28 U.S.C. 97, the federal Kentucky district statute.
The statute supports the federal-court boundary, while local Lyon County trial records stay with the Kentucky Court of Justice system.