Rule 3.02.Circuit civil fees and costs.

Rule 3.02 sets the price of filing a civil case in Kentucky Circuit Court: a base fee of $150.00, paid to the circuit clerk when the case is filed. That baseline doesn't apply across the board. Habeas corpus petitions, proceedings under RCr 11.42, and mental health proceedings under KRS Chapters 202A, 202B, and 387 carry no filing fee at all. A petition under KRS 311.732 costs $10.00 instead of the standard fee. On top of whichever base fee applies, the rule layers on charges required by other statutes — including a $20.00 court technology fee — plus any other required fees, such as a court facility or library fee.

The rule also lists a schedule of additional costs the circuit clerk charges when a party requests a particular service: $40.00 to seat a six-person jury, $70.00 for a jury of more than six, $44.00 to file a third-party complaint, $5.00 to prepare a certification (including one under an Act of Congress), $.25 per page for a copy of a document, $25.00 for a copy of a digital or video recording, $15.00 for a copy of an audio recording, $25.00 to issue a writ of attachment, execution order, or post-judgment writ of possession, and $15.00 to issue a garnishment. Publishing a notice costs whatever the newspaper charges, certified mail is billed as set by administrative order, an original deposition's appearance fees and mileage are assessed as costs, and library fees follow KRS 172.180 and KRS 453.060.

Beyond that, Rule 3.02 lets the presiding judge order added costs for services a case turns out to need: $50.00 to reopen a domestic relations case more than six months after entry of the decree in order to modify it, $50.00 for every block of 50 items filed in a case beyond the first 50 (the 51st item, the 101st, and so on), collected after judgment, and $100.00 for each day of a civil jury trial beyond four days, also collected after judgment.