About Circuit Court Clerk David L. Nicholson

A high-energy individual with a passion for public service, David L. Nicholson has spent his life — both professionally and personally — helping others and striving to improve the lives of his fellow citizens.

Mr. Nicholson, a lifelong resident of Louisville, Ky., was elected Jefferson County Circuit Court Clerk in 2006 and re-elected in 2012, 2018 and 2024.

The Office of the Circuit Court Clerk (OCCC) is a constitutional office that is part of the Kentucky Court of Justice. The OCCC’s primary duty is to process, manage and maintain the records of Circuit, Family and District courts. In addition, the office is the repository of court fees, fines and costs in the Jefferson Country trial court system.

The Jefferson County Circuit Court Clerk’s Office serves the largest jurisdiction in Kentucky’s unified court system and its only true urban court system, operating 24 x 7 x 365 service. The office has annual revenue of approximately $27.4 million and employs 276 deputy clerks. In 2024, it processed a total of 119,378 new Circuit, Family and District court cases. On average, this represents about 330 new cases per day.

Under his leadership, the office has:

• Opened a consolidated Domestic Violence Intake Center, which operates around the clock every day of the year.
• Been instrumental in bringing technology to the courts, including electronic case filing (eFiling) and other Internet-based systems.
• Opened a long-overdue driver’s license branch in West Louisville for underserved citizens of the community.
• Implemented the practice of using metrics to measure office throughput and develop data-driven operational strategy.
• Invested in ongoing employee development and training, and advanced promoting from within the organization.

Mr. Nicholson is actively involved in several local, state and national organizations, including serving as a current member of the Board of Directors of Kosair for Kids. A past President of the Kentucky Association of Circuit Court Clerks (KACCC) as well as the Kentucky Association of Counties (KACo), he is a current member of both boards in addition to the Board of Directors of the National Association of Counties (NACo), where he serves as Chair of the Audit Committee, Vice Chair of the Courts and Corrections Subcommittee for the Justice and Public Safety Steering Committee and a member of the Large Urban County Caucus (LUCC). He is the Ex Officio Librarian of the Jefferson County Public Law Library and a member of its Board of Trustees.

Additionally, he served as a member of the Kentucky Attorney General’s Search Warrant Task Force to examine the process for securing, reviewing and executing search warrants in Kentucky.

A longtime advocate for domestic violence survivors and a supporter of efforts to reduce the occurrence of domestic violence in our community, Mr. Nicholson is a former Board member of the Center for Women and Families.

Also, he is a 2012 graduate of the prestigious County Leadership Institute in Washington, D.C.

Prior to becoming Circuit Court Clerk, Mr. Nicholson joined the Louisville Metro Criminal Justice Commission in 1991 and served as its Executive Director from 1998 to 2006. As head of the organization, he supervised the planning, research and systemwide coordination of initiatives to help Louisville’s first responders (police/fire/emergency medical services) keep our community safe. Under his leadership, the commission received millions of dollars in state and federal public safety grants including an unprecedented multimillion dollar grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Mr. Nicholson graduated from Ballard High School, worked summers on the assembly line at the Ford Truck Plant, earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from Westminster College in Fulton, Mo., and attended the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University in Birmingham, Ala.

His roots in our community run as deep as his commitment to public service. He is the youngest of four children and the brother of the late Jefferson County District Court Judge James C. “Jimmy” Nicholson. Mr. Nicholson credits his late father, Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge S. Rush Nicholson, for stressing the importance of public service and community engagement.

Mr. Nicholson and his wife Debra have instilled in their two children the honor of service to others. His daughter Sara Michael is a sitting District Court Judge in Jefferson County, and his son Samuel is a practicing attorney representing victims of employment discrimination.