Ky. Cir. Ct. Clerks' Manual CIRCUIT CRIMINAL CASES

14 CIRCUIT CRIMINAL CASES Process Map

 A circuit criminal case is commenced with the filing of an indictment or information. An

indictment is returned by the Grand Jury and an information is filed by the commonwealth

attorney.

14.1 Misdemeanor Indictments

1. An indictment returned by the Grand Jury for a misdemeanor, not joined with a felony

charged in the same indictment, shall be docketed in district court. RCr 5.20.

2. If the misdemeanor charge came from a district court case, file the indictment for the

misdemeanor in that case file.

3. When a No True Bill is returned on a misdemeanor, the circuit judge shall release the

defendant from custody and/or exonerate bond. RCr 5.22. Place a copy of the NTB in

the district court file. If an NTB is returned on a direct submission, place the NTB in the

grand jury report file.

14.2 Circuit Criminal: Indictments Joined with a Felony

 An indictment for a misdemeanor joined with a felony shall be docketed in circuit court.

RCr 5.20.

1. Upon receipt of an indictment or information, apply the FILED stamp to Quick Reference

the indictment or information; add the date and your initials. There is no File, date, initial

filing fee in criminal cases. KRS 453.190(1).

2. Refer to Case Add section of the KyCourts Manual for instruction on

opening the case and handling of multiple defendants. Use case type CR. Case type CR

Generate the next case number for circuit criminal CR cases or use the next

pre-numbered file folder.

NOTE: Charge/Violation date should be date Grand Jury returned the

indictment.

NOTE: Open one case file and assign one case number when two or more offenses,

whether felonies, misdemeanors, violations, or any combination thereof, are charged in

the same or related indictment, information, served criminal complaint or citation,

where the offenses are of the same or similar character or are based on the same acts or

transactions connected together or constituting parts of a common plan or scheme. See

Uniform Case Management Standards.

NOTE: In cases where there is a conviction of a DUI, it is helpful to DOT to list the

underlying District Case number and Charge/Violation date in the charge memo. This

information is included in the reportable/abstract data share with the DOT.

3. Cross reference the circuit criminal case with the underlying district court case number

by completing a cross-reference screen, when applicable. Refer to the Case Add section

of KyCourts Manual for specific instructions.

CIRCUIT CRIMINAL CASES

4. Issue a warrant or summons as directed by the court.

14.3 Administrative Procedure

1. Set up a tickler system by completing a scheduled events screen for sixty days from the

filing date of the indictment. At the end of the sixty-day period, print the calendar. Any

case(s) wherein the warrant or summons on indictment is not served close the charge

screen with AP Administrative Procedure.

2. Close the case by completing the disposition date and judge at disposition fields on the

case screen.

3. At such time as the warrant is returned served, complete a special status screen to reopen

the case. Remove the disposition date and disposition type from the charge screen. Do not

change disposition information on the case screen.

14.4 Sealed Indictment

Quick Reference

1. If the court directs that the indictment be sealed, add the case to the

sealed SE division utilizing case add and include all information using

SE Division

the next available CR case number. Issue a warrant or summons as

directed by the court. CR Case Number

Note: Do not disclose any information concerning the case.

Note: Once a warrant created in the sealed division of KYCourts has been signed in

eWarrants, the warrant will not be viewable in the eWarrants system by anyone other than

the Commonwealth’s Attorney in your jurisdiction. The Commonwealth’s Attorney in the

jurisdiction in which the warrant was signed will need to locate the warrant and distribute

it to the appropriate agency for service.

A tutorial is available in the self-help section of eWarrants for the Commonwealth’s

Attorney that demonstrates the process to locate these warrants. After reviewing the

video, the Commonwealth’s Attorney may reach out to the KSP help desk for further

assistance.

KSP Help Desk

(502) 227-8710 or 1-800-858-5465

Email: askkyops@ky.gov

CIRCUIT CRIMINAL CASES

2. Using the same CR number, create a "holder" in the CI division so the Quick Reference

sealed case may be transferred to the circuit CI division at such time as the

case becomes public record. CR Case Number

• Complete a party screen using SEALED PARTY for the defendant and CI Division

complaining witness party names. Enter SEALED PARTY

• Complete a case screen only using the case number assigned to the case

in the SE division. Enter the style of the case as SEALED RECORD. Enter Enter SEALED RECORD

the original filing date, case type of SE sealed, and disposition date the

same as the filing date. Enter the judge who sealed the indictment as

the open judge and judge at disposition.

3. At such time as the case becomes public record (unsealed), through

Case Level Maintenance, delete the case in the circuit CI division and

transfer the case from the sealed SE division to the circuit CI division.

14.5 Amended Indictment

1. Upon receipt of an amended indictment, apply the FILED stamp; Quick Reference

add the date and your initials. File, date, initial

2. File the amended indictment by completing a document screen in the

already existing/originating case. Use document type OAI.

Document type OAI

3. Amend the charge(s) screen, as appropriate, to reflect the charges

added or otherwise amended.

4. Follow the court’s direction for issuance of a summons or bench warrant.

5. Complete a scheduled events screen as directed by the court.

6. When a return of service is received, enter the return information on the warrant or

summons screen.

7. When a hearing or trial is scheduled, calendar by completing a scheduled events screen.

14.5.1 Superseding Indictments

 Upon receipt of a Superseding indictment follow your local protocol or confirm with

Commonwealth Attorney and judge for direction.

14.6 Order

1. Upon receipt of a signed judgment or order, apply the ENTERED stamp to

Quick Reference

the judgment or order; add the date and your initials.

Enter, date, initial

2. Enter the judgment or order on the document screen, including a brief

description. Distribute notice of entry to every party. Make an entry on

the document screen showing the manner and date of the distribution of NOE

the notice of entry of the judgment or order.

CIRCUIT CRIMINAL CASES

3. An order from the court showing the defendant incompetent to stand trial; not guilty by

reason of insanity; or guilty but mentally ill may subject the defendant to a firearm

prohibition. See Firearm Prohibition.

14.7 Charge Closing

1. When a judgment or order disposes of a charge, close the charge screen by completing

the disposition date, disposition type, judge, trial type, original plea and final plea fields.

For more information, see Pleas.

NOTES:

• Court trial is entered as trial type disposition only when an actual trial is held.

Except for the jury being present, the same set of circumstances as a jury trial

must exist, i.e., opening statements by attorneys, cross-examination of

witnesses, closing arguments and a finding by the court. The entry of a guilty

plea in open court is not a court trial.

• If a court trial or jury trial has been entered as the trial type, an original plea and

final plea must be entered.

• If an original plea has been entered, a final plea must be entered whether or not

the defendant changes the plea. If no plea is entered, (example: charge is

dismissed at arraignment), original and final plea are both left blank. Original

plea and final plea reflect what the defendant has entered regardless of a

different finding by the court.

Conviction Reporting

Charge Date Process Exception

Before 7-1-2020 Report conviction If sentencing does not occur at the time of finding of

date to Division of guilt or entry of guilty plea, refer to KyCourts Manual for

Driver Licensing at instructions on deleting the conviction report.

time of sentencing.

When sentencing occurs, enter the length of time the

defendant’s operators’ license is suspended/revoked.

On or After Report conviction

7-1-2020 date to Division of

Drivers Licensing at

time of sentencing.

Refer to instructions in KyCourts Manual for disposition of offenses reportable to Driver Licensing.

Also see Conviction Reporting.

Note: Pursuant to KRS 27A.070, the AOC shall provide the SBE with certified notices of felony

convictions within ten (10) days after the conviction becomes final with regard to any person

before the courts of the Commonwealth. To facilitate compliance with this statutory requirement,

the AOC will transmit certified notices of conviction to the SBE on a weekly basis.

CIRCUIT CRIMINAL CASES

14.8 Sentence

1. If a sentence is imposed by the court, complete a sentence screen.

NOTE: If the defendant is sentenced to time and the time is suspended or conditionally

discharged, enter the time assessed in the "total sentenced" field. Enter time suspended

or conditionally discharged in the "suspended" or "conditionally discharged" field.

2. When all charges in the case have been disposed of and the defendant has been

sentenced, complete the disposition date and judge at disposition fields ONLY on the

case screen.

3. If the judgment imposes a sentence of death or confinement, provide the sheriff with

two certified copies of the judgment. RCr 11.22.

14.9 Court Costs, Fees, and Fines

 Court costs are not assessed unless there is a conviction. Absent a finding of indigency,

imposition of court costs is mandatory anytime there is a conviction.

14.9.1 Initial Assessment and Setting Show Cause Date for Installment

Payments

1. If ordered, collect the fine, court costs and applicable fees as set out in the Accounting

Manual, and give a receipt. Court costs are based upon the following:

• Refer questions about receipting court costs to Court Services.

• Offenders will pay the court costs in effect on the violation date shown on the

citation or indictment plus library fee and court facilities fee, if applicable.

2. Apply payments first to court costs, then to restitution, then to fees, and finally to fines,

unless otherwise ordered by the Court. Contact Court Services if you receive a court order

directing you to apply payments in a different fashion.

Quick Reference

3. If the court establishes an installment plan for the offender, schedule a show

cause hearing using scheduled event type SCIP as ordered by the court.

Event type SCIP

4. The defendant shall be given notice of the total amount due, the payment

frequency, and the date by which all payments are made.

5. The notice shall instruct the defendant that if he or she has not complied

with the installment payment plan by the scheduled date, he or she shall

appear on that date to show cause as to why he/she is unable to satisfy the

Apply payments

obligations.

first to:

6. The notice shall be given to the defendant in writing on a form provided by

Court Costs

the AOC. Use AOC-465.1 (Fine & Cost List with Order to Show Cause For Non-

Restitution

payment) or AOC 465.2 (Order for Deferred or Installment Payments or

Fee

Courts, Fees, and Fines with Show Cause Order).

Fines

CIRCUIT CRIMINAL CASES

14.9.2 Failure to Pay or Appear at Show Cause Hearing

 The response of a court to nonpayment shall be determined only after the court costs, fees,

or fines have not been paid and either a show cause hearing has been held, or the

defendant has failed to appear at the show cause hearing. Every warrant for arrest issued

shall include a notice to the jailer that the defendant shall be released upon payment or

completion of daily credit pursuant to KRS 534.070.

1. If defendant fails to appear at a show cause hearing, the judge may issue a warrant for

the defendant’s arrest.

2. If a bench warrant is issued, include in the Bail memo in KYCourts the total amount of

court costs, fees, and fines owed by defendant.

14.10 Incompetency Determination

1. Upon receipt of an AOC 400 Competency Hearing Order, apply the ENTERED stamp to

the order; add the date and your initials. Enter the order on the document screen. Serve

notice of entry as shown in the distribution list at the bottom of the form. Mail a copy of

the order to the State Board of Elections. KRS 30A.145.

2. A person found incompetent to stand trial may be subject to a firearm prohibition. See

Firearms Prohibition.

3. A person found incompetent to stand trial is prohibited from operating a motor vehicle

during the period of the person’s incompetency. KRS 186.560.

4. Upon a finding of incompetency for any charge using disposition type INC –

Incompetent to Stand Trial; an abstract reporting record will be generated notifying DOT.

5. When the individual is found competent to stand trial, manually enter a COR – correction

record for each charge in which a report was generated due to the INC disposition.

License Surrendering Procedures

• Confiscate license. KRS 186.440, or

• Issue a duplicate license and confiscate. KRS 186.440. The location code should match

the issuing location, but the issuing location will not match the address for an

out-of-county conviction.

14.11 Pretrial Diversion of a Class D Felony

KRS 533.250 - 533.262

1. Upon receipt of an AOC Form 347, Motion for Pretrial Diversion of Class D Quick Reference

Felony is received, apply the FILED stamp; add the date and your initials. AOC Form 347

File, date, initial

2. Schedule a hearing by completing a scheduled events screen and file the

motion by completing a motion screen using motion code PDDF. Motion code PDDF

CIRCUIT CRIMINAL CASES

14.11.1 Order

1. Upon receipt of a signed judgment or order, apply the ENTERED stamp Enter, date, initial

to the order; add the date and your initials.

2. Enter the order on the document screen, including a brief description. Motion granted-

Use document type OGMPD if the order grants the motion or ODMPD if OGMPD

the order denies the motion. Motion denied-

ODMPD

3. Serve notice of entry as shown in the distribution list at the bottom of NOE

the form. Make an entry on the document screen showing the manner

(mail or personal delivery) and date of the service of notice of entry of

the order.

4. If the order grants the motion for pretrial diversion: Disposition type DIV

• Close the charge screen by completing the disposition type as DIV

(Diversion).

• Schedule the date the charge is to be dismissed by completing a Enter scheduled

scheduled events screen. Enter in the memo field of the scheduled events

events screen, Dismissed/Diverted. Dismissed/Diverted

• Close the case screen by completing the disposition date field with

the date the court ordered diversion and the judge at disposition

field.

14.11.2 Diversion Successfully Completed

At the end of the pretrial diversion period when a signed order is received ordering the

charge dismissed/diverted, overlay the disposition type and date on the charge screen with

the disposition of DD (dismissed/diverted) and the date of the order. Do not change the

disposition date on the case screen.

CIRCUIT CRIMINAL CASES

14.12 Voiding of Pretrial Diversion of a Class D Felony

1. Upon receipt of a motion to void the pretrial diversion of a Class D Felony, Quick Reference

apply the FILED stamp; add the date and your initials. File, date, initial

2. Schedule a hearing by completing a scheduled events screen and file the

motion by completing a motion screen. Schedule hearing

3. Reopen the case statistically. Refer to the Special Status Detail Screen AOC Form 346

Section of the KyCourts Manual. Enter, date, initial

4. Upon receipt of AOC Form 346, Order Voiding Pretrial Diversion of Class D

Felony, apply the ENTERED stamp to the order; add the date and your Document type

initials. OVPD

5. Enter the order on the document screen, including a brief description. Use

document type OVPD. Find original document code OGMPD Order NOE

Granting Motion for Pretrial Diversion and add disposition date and

disposition code RSBE Report to State Board of Elections (SBE).

6. Serve notice of entry as shown in the distribution list at the bottom of the

form. Make an entry on the document screen showing the manner (mail

or personal delivery) and date of the service of notice of entry of the order.

7. If the order grants the motion to void the pretrial diversion, schedule a

sentencing hearing as directed by the order by completing a scheduled events screen.

14.12.1 Sentencing

When the defendant is sentenced and a signed AOC Form 445, Judgment and

Sentence on Plea of Guilty, is received: AOC Form 445

1. Apply the ENTERED stamp to the order; add the date and your initials. Enter, date, initial

2. Enter the order on the document screen, using document type JSPG and

including a brief description. Document type

JSPG

3. Serve notice of entry as shown in the distribution list at the bottom of the

form. Make an entry on the document screen showing the manner (mail NOE

or personal delivery) and date of the service of notice of entry of the order.

4. Overlay the disposition type and disposition date on the charge screen

according to the court’s order. Overlay disposition

5. Complete a sentence screen, if appropriate.

6. Reclose the case by completing a special status screen. Refer to Special Complete sentence

Status Detail Screen Section of KyCourts Manual for instructions. screen

7. To report convictions, see conviction reporting in this chapter.

14.12.2 Jail Credit

 Defendants incarcerated for failure to pay court costs, fees, or fines (or for failure to appear

and show cause for nonpayment) are entitled to a jail credit for time spent against the

amount owed. Unless the defendant is incarcerated pursuant to orders in other cases, upon

CIRCUIT CRIMINAL CASES

service of sufficient days in jail to have sufficient credit to satisfy the court costs, fees, or

fines, the defendant shall be released from jail.

Credit is applied by the jailer at the following rates for each day spent in jail:

• $50 per day if no community service is performed

• $100 per day if (8) eight hours of community service is performed

• 1/8 of $100 for each hour worked

NOTE: The jailer is responsible for tracking the amount of credit the

defendant has earned and filing the AOC 426 (Notice of Jail Credit).

Quick Reference

1. Upon receipt from the jailer of AOC 426 (Notice of Jail Credit), apply the

File, date, initial

FILED stamp, add the date and your initials.

2. File on a document screen using document code NJC. Enter the amount of Document code

credit earned in the box provided. Refer to the Jail Credit section in the NJC

Accounting Manual for information about applying the credit.

14.13 Order to Corrections Cabinet

All court orders, opinions, or judgments relating to the custody of a convicted Quick Reference

felon shall be emailed to Justice.OIS-Court-Documents@ky.gov. Justice.OIS-Court-Documents@ky.gov

14.14 Order Involving Youthful/Public Offenders

When you have entered a sentencing order involving juveniles charged as

youthful offenders/public offenders: Department of

Juvenile Justice

Mail a copy to the Department of Juvenile Justice. 1025 Capital Center

If a youthful offender is found guilty of specified charges, serve notice of entry Drive, 3rd Floor,

of the order on the principal of the school attended by the child as directed in Frankfort, KY 40601

the order. NOE to school

principal

14.15 Sex Offender Registration Form

1. Upon receipt of a signed judgment or order: Probation and Parole Form

Enter, date, initial

P:227, Sex Offender Duty To Register Notification Form, apply the

ENTERED stamp; add the date and your initials.

Document type

2. File by completing a document screen. Use document type ORSO.

ORSO

3. Give notice of entry of the judge’s order by distributing a copy of the form

as shown in the distribution list at the bottom of the form. NOE

CIRCUIT CRIMINAL CASES

14.16 Sex Offender Registration Non-Compliance Notice

1. Upon receipt of a notification of non-compliance by a defendant of Quick Reference

requirements of the Sex Offender Registry (KRS 17.510 (13)(b)), apply the

FILED stamp to the notification; add the date and your initials. File, date, initial

2. File by completing a document screen. Use document type NON. Document type

NOTE: If the notification is received in a county other than the county of NON

conviction, file in a miscellaneous file labeled "Out of County Sex Offender

Non-Compliance Notices.”

3. Mail or hand-deliver a copy to the commonwealth attorney.

4. Notify the judge of the notification of non-compliance. Schedule a hearing

as directed by the court or pursuant to motion or notice from the

commonwealth attorney.

5. When a signed order is received, apply the ENTERED stamp; add the date

and your initials. Enter, date, initial

6. Enter the order on the document screen (or manual docket sheet if the

notification is received in a county other than the county of conviction). Enter order on

Distribute notice of entry on every party. Make an entry on the document document screen

screen showing the manner (mail or personal delivery) and date of NOE

distribution of notice of entry of order.

14.17 Interpersonal Protective Order Following Stalking or

Sexual Assault Offense Convictions

CIRCUIT CRIMINAL CASES

14.18 Kentucky Rule of Evidence (KRE) 412 Hearing in Rape and

Similar Cases

 Procedure to determine admissibility of evidence.

For hearings held pursuant to KRE 412(c)(2), motions and related papers together with the

audio or video tape of the hearing must be sealed and remain sealed unless the court orders

otherwise.

1. When the motion(s) and related papers are received, apply the FILED Quick Reference

stamp; add the date and your initials. File, date, initial

2. File by completing a motion or document screen as appropriate. If the

pleading is a motion, schedule a hearing by completing a scheduled events

screen.

3. Place the motion or other pleading in an envelope; mark the envelope

CONFIDENTIAL; add the date and your initials. Seal the envelope. Mark envelope

4. Place the sealed envelope in the case file. CONFIDENTIAL

NOTE: If an audio or video hearing is held, place the tape of such hearing in

an envelope; mark the envelope CONFIDENTIAL; add the date and your

initials. Seal the envelope. Mark envelope

Place the sealed envelope in the case file. CONFIDENTIAL

5. Do not release the sealed envelope(s) from your custody except when

actually used in the action or proceeding. If a request to review the case

file is received, remove the envelope(s) from the case file.

6. An individual seeking to view the sealed envelope(s) must secure a court

order giving him/her access.

7. When the case is closed, maintain the confidentiality of the pleadings.