Eviction and Forcible Detainer Papers in Kentucky

01The rule that decides everything

Kentucky Sends the Forcible Detainer Notice to the Sheriff or a Constable

Kentucky evictions are forcible detainer cases filed in District Court on the sworn AOC-216 complaint. Once the complaint is filed, KRS 383.210 directs the warrant to the sheriff of the county where the property lies, or to any constable, and commands the officer to give the tenant at least three days' notice of the time and place of trial. The current AOC-215 eviction notice, revised in October 2025, is addressed to the Sheriff or any Constable. The statute leaves no room for a private server on that paper.

We take that rule at face value. Delator Field Services does not serve the AOC-215 notice, does not accept forcible detainer papers for delivery, and does not carry out warrants of restitution. A landlord who sends us those papers will hear the same answer at intake, along with an explanation of where they belong. Our guide to serving an eviction in Kentucky walks through each step, and the Kentucky process servers hub lists the papers we do serve.

Notice is not a formality. Under KRS 383.215, no inquiry can proceed against a tenant who was not notified, and a tenant who received less than three days' notice can ask for an adjournment until the three days have run. Getting the officer's service right protects the hearing date. Once you know the court has the notice in the sheriff's hands, our role is to help with everything around the case that a private server may lawfully deliver.

• KRS 383.210: sheriff or any constable
• AOC-215 addressed to the Sheriff or any Constable
• At least three days' notice of trial
• No inquiry without notice (KRS 383.215)

02How the officer serves it

KRS 454.030 Gives Officers Options a Summons Server Does Not Have

The officer serving an eviction notice follows KRS 454.030. If the officer cannot find the tenant at the premises, the officer may explain the notice and leave a copy with a member of the tenant's family over 16 who is at the premises. If no one is there, the officer posts a copy in a conspicuous place on the property and mails another by regular first-class mail to the same address. The AOC-215 return lists those three outcomes: personal delivery, family member, or posting and mail.

That flexibility is specific to the eviction notice. For an ordinary Kentucky summons, CR 4.04(2) requires delivery to the person or an authorized agent, or offering the papers if the person refuses, and there is no household-member option. Landlords sometimes assume the eviction rules carry over to their rent suit. They do not, and we explain the difference before any attempt. Our Kentucky service guide for legal papers covers the summons rules in more depth.

Sheriffs publish their own fees and procedures for this work. The Jefferson County Sheriff's Process Unit lists forcibles among the court papers it serves and charges $70 per civil paper, which reflects the $60 fee sheriff pages cite under KRS 64.090 plus a $10 Louisville Metro fee effective Nov. 1, 2025. Other counties may differ, so landlords should confirm the charge with the sheriff in the county where the property sits. The Jefferson County process server page lists the Louisville courthouses.

03Before the case is filed

Pre-Suit Notices: URLTA Areas and the Rest of Kentucky

Most evictions start with a written notice from the landlord, and the rules depend on where the property sits. Kentucky's Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act applies only in cities and counties that adopt it in full. In those areas, KRS 383.660(2) generally lets a landlord terminate if rent is still unpaid seven days after written notice of nonpayment and intent to terminate. For other material noncompliance, the statute calls for written notice naming a termination date at least 14 days after the tenant receives it.

Outside URLTA areas, KRS 383.195 generally ends a tenancy at will or by sufferance on one month's written notice to vacate. No official statewide list of URLTA localities exists. A 2015 tenant-advocacy handout, which we treat as dated, listed Louisville-Jefferson, Lexington-Fayette, Oldham and Pulaski counties and several cities, including Covington, Newport, Florence, Shelbyville and Georgetown. Your attorney or local government can confirm which rules govern a specific address, and our Newport process server page covers one of those Northern Kentucky cities.

The statutes require a written notice but do not set a delivery method, so the lease usually controls how notice must be given. Where the lease and the law allow hand delivery, Delator Field Services can deliver the landlord's notice and document it with a time-stamped log and a signed statement of what was delivered, to whom, where and when. That record helps if the tenant later disputes receipt. We do not draft notices or advise on their content; that belongs with counsel, and our overview of Kentucky process servers explains what else we deliver.

• URLTA nonpayment: 7 days after written notice
• URLTA noncompliance: at least 14 days
• Non-URLTA tenancy at will: one month's notice
• Delivery method usually set by the lease

04After the trial

Appeals and Warrants of Restitution Stay With the Court and Officers

After the District Court rules, KRS 383.245 gives the losing party until the seventh day after the finding to appeal. If no appeal is taken, the court issues a warrant of restitution directed to the sheriff or any constable, commanding the officer to put the landlord in possession. That is the moment many landlords think of as the eviction itself, and in Kentucky it is an officer's job. We do not attend, schedule or carry out set-outs, and we do not remove property.

What we can do after judgment depends on the paper. If the court allows private delivery of a post-judgment paper, such as a notice in a separate collection case, we confirm that with the clerk before accepting it. Garnishment orders go to the employer or other garnishee, and we confirm with counsel how the issuing clerk wants the order delivered and documented. Our registered agent service for Kentucky employers explains how we reach a business garnishee.

Servicemember tenants add a federal layer. Before a default judgment, the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act generally requires an affidavit stating whether the defendant is in military service, and a court may need to appoint an attorney and grant a stay of at least 90 days. Landlords near Fort Knox and Fort Campbell should raise that question with counsel early. The Radcliff process server page and Hopkinsville process server page cover the counties next to both posts.

05What we do serve

Rent Suits, Damage Claims and Hearing Subpoenas We Can Deliver

A forcible detainer decides possession. Money owed for unpaid rent or damage to the unit is often pursued in a separate suit, and that suit is served like any other Kentucky civil case. Claims of $2,500 or less can go to small claims, where the state handbook describes service by clerk certified mail or the sheriff. Larger claims go to District Court up to $5,000 or Circuit Court above that, where the clerk can mail the summons, transfer it to an authorized person, or return it to the filing party to arrange service under CR 4.01.

When the summons comes to us, CR 4.04(2) governs. Our server delivers it to the former tenant personally, or offers it on refusal, and records each attempt with a time stamp. Former tenants often move after possession is resolved, so the attempt log matters if counsel later needs a warning order. Our page on Kentucky defendants who are hard to serve explains how we plan repeat attempts at varied hours and days.

Hearing witnesses are the other common request. A property manager, a maintenance worker or a neighbor may be needed at the forcible detainer trial, and CR 45.03 generally lets any person over 18 serve a subpoena by delivering or offering a copy. A witness who lives in another county is allowed mileage under KRS 421.015. Because the trial can follow quickly once notice is given, ask early; our Kentucky witness subpoena service explains timing and proof.

06The other side of the lease

Papers for Tenants and Cases Against Nonresident Landlords

Tenants sue landlords too, over deposits, repairs or retaliation claims, and those summonses follow the same civil rules. An individual landlord is served personally under CR 4.04(2). A landlord that is a corporation or LLC is served through an officer, a managing agent, or its registered agent under KRS 14A.4-040, and we confirm the current agent before the first attempt. Property management companies are often the practical point of contact, but whether they can accept service depends on their authority.

Out-of-state landlords have their own statute. Under KRS 383.540, a nonresident landlord in an URLTA area may designate a Kentucky agent with the Secretary of State. If there is no agent, or the agent cannot be served, the Secretary of State may be served, provided the plaintiff promptly mails a copy by registered or certified mail to the landlord's last reasonably ascertainable address and files an affidavit of compliance. Counsel handle that route, and our out-of-state papers service in Kentucky covers delivery beyond the state line.

Whichever side you are on, the paper determines who may deliver it. We confirm with the clerk how the summons will issue, and we send papers to the sheriff where only an officer may serve. That consistency matters most in cases where a landlord and tenant are already disputing who said what. Our process serving for Kentucky attorneys page explains how firms on either side of a lease dispute set up standing instructions.

07Where landlord work reaches us

Louisville, Lexington and Northern Kentucky Rental Markets

Landlord requests cluster where rental housing does. Louisville Metro and Lexington-Fayette are both consolidated governments, and both appear on the dated 2015 URLTA list, so their notice rules may differ from a rural county a short drive away. Jefferson County related-paper serves start at $125 Routine, as do Fayette, Boone, Kenton and Campbell. Our Lexington process server page and Covington process server page list the clerk's offices that receive returns.

Northern Kentucky deserves its own note because so many small cities sit side by side. Bellevue, Dayton, Ludlow, Covington and Newport each appeared on that 2015 list, while neighboring cities may not have adopted the act, so two rentals a mile apart can carry different pre-suit timelines. Kenton County courts sit at 230 Madison Ave. in Covington, and Campbell County's at 330 York St. in Newport. Landlords there should have counsel confirm which framework applies before giving notice.

Western Kentucky runs on Central Time, which matters when a landlord in Louisville calendars a hearing in Bowling Green or Paducah. We schedule attempts on related papers in local time and note the zone on each log entry. Before you send anything, tell us the county, the property address, what has been filed and the hearing date. We will tell you in writing which papers we can deliver, at what price, and which belong with the sheriff. The Kentucky rate map for every county has the starting figures.

Services

Landlord-Case Papers We Serve in Kentucky

• Pre-suit written noticesHand delivery of a landlord's written notice where the lease and the law allow it, documented with a time-stamped log and signed statement.Learn more
• Rent and damage suitsSummonses in separate suits for unpaid rent or damage, delivered personally under CR 4.04(2) with every attempt logged and a signed return.Learn more
• Small claims for rentClaims of $2,500 or less, where the District Court permits private delivery after clerk mail or sheriff service, quoted in writing first.Learn more
• Hearing witness subpoenasSubpoenas for property managers, maintenance staff or neighbors needed at a forcible detainer trial, delivered or offered under CR 45.03.Learn more
• Business tenants and landlordsCorporations and LLCs served through an officer, managing agent or registered agent, with the current agent confirmed before any attempt.Learn more
• Former tenants who movedRepeat attempts at varied hours and days for former tenants in a rent suit, with a log counsel can use if a warning order is considered.Learn more
• Out-of-state partiesPapers for landlords or tenants who now live outside Kentucky, delivered under CR 4.04(8) with the affidavit that rule requires.Learn more
• Rush related papersFaster first attempts on a hearing subpoena or related summons when the trial date is close, at the published Rush or Same Day multiples.Learn more
• Referral to the sheriffWhen a paper may only be served by an officer, we say so at intake and tell you which office to contact in that county.Learn more

How it works

How We Take a Kentucky Landlord Matter

1. 01

   Tell us the stage

   Send the county, the property address, what has already been filed and any hearing date, and upload the notice, summons or subpoena you need delivered.

2. 02

   We sort the papers

   We confirm which papers a private server may deliver and which must go to the sheriff or a constable, including every forcible detainer notice and every warrant of restitution.

3. 03

   Written scope and price

   You receive the scope, the service tier and the final price in writing before any attempt is made. Jefferson County related papers start at $125 Routine.

4. 04

   Logged delivery and return

   Each attempt is logged with a time stamp. You then receive a signed return or delivery statement giving the time, place, manner of delivery and the person served.

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Who Delivers Each Kentucky Landlord-Case Paper

Statewide coverage

Kentucky Cities Where Landlord Matters Reach Us

Landlord work is heaviest in the metro counties, so many requests start from the Louisville process server page or the Fayette County process server page. Northern Kentucky landlords often use the Florence process server page for Boone County. In south-central Kentucky, the Elizabethtown process server page covers Hardin County, and the Richmond process server page covers Madison County. Each page lists the local courthouse and the published starting rate.

• Louisville
• Lexington
• Newport
• Florence
• Elizabethtown
• Richmond
• All of Kentucky

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Service areas

Process servers across Kentucky