Lawrence County
Founded in 1817, Lawrence County was named in honor of Captain James Lawrence, an officer of the U.S. Navy. The county has a population of over 44,000 people and a land area of 617.13 square miles. Its government seat and largest city is Lawrenceburg.
Lawrence County's court structure consists of a Circuit Court, a Chancery Court, a General Sessions Court, a Juvenile Court, and four Municipal Courts. The Circuit Court is a court of general jurisdiction and has broad authority over all criminal and civil cases in Lawrence County. It shares jurisdiction with the Chancery Court on matters relating to name changes, divorce, paternity, adoption, trustee petitions, and arbitration. The Chancery Court deals with a wide variety of cases, including contract disputes, arbitration, domestic relations cases, probate proceedings, injunctions, and equitable reliefs.
The General Sessions Court has jurisdiction over certain civil and criminal cases in Lawrence County. Criminal cases handled by the court include felony preliminary hearings, misdemeanors, and municipal ordinance violations. Furthermore, the General Sessions Court has authority over probate matters, certain juvenile cases, and general civil claims in which the amount in dispute is $25,000 or less.
Lawrence County Juvenile Court specializes in cases relating to minors, including juvenile delinquency, child support, child custody, and child abuse. Finally, the municipal courts handle traffic offenses, municipal ordinance violations, and other minor offenses.
Lawrence County public court records are official records of court proceedings within the county. These records take the form of pleadings, judgments, orders, transcripts of proceedings, docket sheets, and case files. The clerk of each court in Lawrence County maintains and stores these records following state laws.
Some types of case records maintained by court clerks in Lawrence County are:
- Adoption records
- Juvenile records
- Probate records
- Criminal records
- Family law records
- Civil records
- Traffic records
Interested persons may search for court records in Lawrence County online via the Case Search Portal. However, historical records before 2000 are available through the Lawrence County Archives website. Alternatively, record seekers may contact the relevant court clerk or visit the courthouses to obtain physical copies of court records.
