The Franklin County Courthouse in Frankfort on March 26, 2025. (Kentucky Lantern photo by McKenna Horsley)
The Franklin County courts are moving operations back into the downtown Frankfort courthouse following damage from widespread April floods.
The courts will return to the courthouse on St. Clair Street starting Tuesday, Sept. 2, the Administrative Office of the Courts said. Flooding inundated communities across Kentucky in April, including the capital city of Frankfort.
It was the “second worst flood in Franklin County history,” said Franklin Circuit Chief Judge Thomas Wingate in his order granting the reopening of the courthouse.
Franklin County courts have been operating at the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) building on Chamberlin Avenue, which has also served as a temporary home to the Kentucky Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, while some damage was being repaired over the past few months. Some proceedings also took place at the Franklin County Regional Jail and over Zoom. The circuit clerk had a temporary office on Vandalay Drive, another AOC site.
Because it’s the capital, most court cases involving state officials or government are filed in the local circuit court. A hearing in the Kentucky Student Voice Team’s case against the state over the quality of public education was held at the building on Chamberlin Avenue in May.
The Franklin circuit clerk’s temporary office will be closed for in-person business Friday as courthouse workers prepare for the move next week. It will reopen Tuesday.
In a press release, the Administrative Office of the Courts said flood remediation will be ongoing, “but the building is ready for business.”
Jamie Neal, a spokesperson for AOC, told the Lantern in an email that repairs at the Franklin County courthouse so far have been focused on operating systems, like HVAC and electrical systems, to allow court operations on floors that weren’t directly impacted by the flood.
“We will have a timeline for full restoration of the first floor after we have a full architectural assessment and reconstruction plans for that floor,” Neal said. “This includes a study of ways to protect against future flood damage.”
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