Contact Bell County Circuit Court Clerk

Bell County Circuit Court Clerk

The Kentucky Court of Justice Bell County page names Colby Slusher as Bell County Circuit Court Clerk. The office is located at the Farmer Helton Judicial Center in Pineville, the same court location used by Bell County's 44th Judicial Circuit and 44th Judicial District. KCOJ states that Circuit Court Clerks manage records of Kentucky Circuit, Family, District, and Business courts, which makes this office the starting point for official Bell County court case files and court-copy requests.

For local users, the title can be confusing. The Circuit Court Clerk does not perform every county clerk task. Marriage licenses, deeds, liens, mortgages, plats, corporate records, motor vehicle services, elections, and many open-records materials are handled by the elected Bell County Court Clerk, Debbie Gambrel. The dedicated County Court Clerk page will cover that second office. Court cases, decrees, dockets, District Court probate files, and certified case copies start with the Circuit Court Clerk.

Bell County Clerk Office Split

Bell County uses a split clerk structure. The Circuit Court Clerk is part of Kentucky's court system and handles case records. The County Court Clerk is a separate elected county office that handles land records, liens, corporate records, plats, marriage licenses, open records materials, and vehicle-related services. A divorce decree goes to the Circuit Court Clerk. A marriage license goes to the County Court Clerk. A deed tied to an estate goes to the County Court Clerk, while the probate estate file starts with the Circuit Court Clerk.

The official Bell County Clerk contact page is useful because many record searches fail at the first step when a requester sends a county-record question to the court clerk or a court-case question to the county clerk.

The image below comes from the Bell County Clerk contact page.

The contact page shows why Bell County record routing should name the office, not just the word clerk.

Bell County Court Record Duties

The Circuit Court Clerk is the local public-facing records office for Kentucky Court of Justice case files filed in Bell County. Court records may involve civil cases, criminal cases, traffic matters, misdemeanors, felony proceedings, divorces, family matters, District Court probate of wills, small claims, mental health matters, domestic violence cases, and appeals within the local court structure. The clerk is also the office to ask whether a file is onsite, stored at a records facility, or no longer available under retention rules.

• Manage Circuit Court, Family Court, District Court, and Business Court records filed in Bell County.
• Help requesters identify where an older court file is stored when it is not onsite.
• Provide available plain or certified copies according to current court rules and fees.
• Route eligible online payments through KYeCourts ePay when a case can be handled online.
• Confirm public-access limits for sealed, expunged, juvenile, mental health, adoption, and protected files.

Request Bell County Certified Copies

Certified copies are used when a Bell County court record must show official court custody or filing status. Divorce decrees, judgments, criminal dispositions, probate orders, traffic dispositions, and other court orders may need certification for legal, licensing, school, benefit, or administrative use. Online docket data is not a certified copy. A printout from a search result may help identify the case, but the official file and certified copy come through the Circuit Court Clerk.

1. Identify the case type, court division, party names, and case number if known.
2. Call the Bell County Circuit Court Clerk at 606-337-9900 or 606-337-2942, or visit the Farmer Helton Judicial Center.
3. Ask whether the file is public, sealed, onsite, offsite, or affected by retention rules.
4. Request the exact document needed, such as decree, order, judgment, disposition, or full file copy.
5. Confirm current copy fees, certification fees, payment method, pickup, mail, and processing time.

Note: KCOJ warns that online information must be verified against the official court record before relying on it.

Bell County Record Request Fields

Kentucky Court of Justice instructions route case-record requests through the clerk of the court that heard the case. Bell County research did not locate a separate local online court-record request form with fixed fields, so a request should provide enough detail for staff to find the file and quote copy options. The table below uses the research-supported court-record fields and marks items that may be unknown.

Bell County Clerk Fees

Bell County research located payment methods but not a complete local court-copy fee table. The KCOJ Bell County page lists cash, check, money order, and ePay for eligible online payments. Specific plain copy, certified copy, search, and filing amounts were not located in official Bell County court sources. The correct approach is to ask the Circuit Court Clerk for the current quote before mailing a request or arriving with payment.

Bell County Clerk Online Routes

Bell County does not publish a county-built court case search portal. Court users rely on Kentucky Court of Justice tools plus the Circuit Court Clerk. The KCOJ docket search can show court dates when Bell County, division, and date are selected. KYeCourts Easy Pay can search eligible cases, citations, and parties tied to online payment, with CAPTCHA on citation and party searches. Neither tool replaces the official court file.

County records use different channels. The Bell County Clerk records page links to eCCLIX and DOC Alert and lists categories such as deeds, mortgages, liens, corporate records, and plats. It also links open records materials. For court-file copies, use the Circuit Court Clerk. For county-record searches, use the County Court Clerk and its records page.

Federal Courts Are Separate

Bell County state court records should not be requested from federal courts. Federal criminal cases, federal civil cases, bankruptcy, habeas cases, and federal appeals use a different court system. Bell County is in the Eastern District of Kentucky for federal district court and bankruptcy. PACER and CM/ECF are federal access systems, not Bell County Circuit Court Clerk systems.

Federal court sources help distinguish state and federal records. A Bell County divorce decree, District Court probate file, misdemeanor case, traffic citation, or state felony record belongs with Kentucky Court of Justice and the Circuit Court Clerk. A federal indictment or bankruptcy case does not.

The federal district court image comes from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky.

Use the federal district court for federal cases only, not for Bell County Circuit or District Court records.

The bankruptcy image comes from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky.

Bankruptcy records are federal records and should not be requested from the Bell County Circuit Court Clerk.

Visiting the Bell County Clerk

The Farmer Helton Judicial Center is the Bell County court location listed by KCOJ. Published visitor details include designated disability parking in front of the building, an elevator to the upstairs courtroom, and equipped bathroom facilities. KCOJ did not publish a Bell-specific security list, cell-phone rule, construction year, or detailed parking map in the inspected source, so visitors should confirm practical arrival rules before a court appearance or records visit.

Bring the case number if known, party names, a date range, the document type, and enough payment flexibility to match the current clerk instructions. For County Court Clerk business, use the Pineville or Middlesboro County Clerk offices instead of the judicial center. For state court record copies, the Circuit Court Clerk is the correct starting point.