Photo caption
The Bath County Judicial Center in Owingsville will be dedicated at a public ceremony Tuesday, July 21. The facility doubles the amount of space for the courts and increases security. (Photo by Sherman Carter Barnhart Architects)

News release
FRANKFORT, Ky., July 8, 2026 – The public and media are invited to the dedication of the Bath County Judicial Center on Tuesday, July 21. The event will take place at 4:30 p.m. EDT at the new facility at 65 Water St. in Owingsville.

“Kentucky courthouses are the heart of our communities,” Chief Justice of the Commonwealth Debra Hembree Lambert said. “The new Bath County Judicial Center will be a safer, more efficient and beautiful place for court business and for the public to access justice. I am thankful to the county leaders and state legislators who partnered with the Judicial Branch to bring this project to life.”

The state-of-the art judicial center opened March 30. The two-story, 20,420-square-foot judicial center increases security and doubles the amount of space for the courts, which were previously housed in the Bath County Courthouse Annex. The exterior of the new facility was designed after the 19th century Bath County Courthouse, where courts were located before moving to the annex in 1982. Circuit Court, District Court, the Office of Circuit Court Clerk and court programs for Bath County are housed in the judicial center.

The Kentucky General Assembly authorized the judicial center project in 2018. The project cost is $19.5 million.

Chief Justice Lambert will be the keynote speaker at the ceremony. State and local officials will attend.

The facility is designed to greatly enhance the delivery of court services. It is equipped with the latest computer, video and networking technology. The judicial center provides the highest level of Kentucky court security through a single-point entry with magnetometers and security personnel. In addition, prisoners are segregated from the public by separate entrances and corridors.

The Bath County Judicial Center was designed to meet the standards required by the Administrative Office of the Courts. Sherman Carter Barnhart Architects designed the judicial center. Codell Construction is the construction manager for the project, and Compass Municipal Advisors is the financial agent.

Administrative Office of the Courts
The AOC is based in Frankfort and oversees the construction and maintenance of court facilities statewide as the administrative and fiscal agent for the state court system. The AOC also supports the activities of nearly 3,300 Kentucky Court of Justice (Judicial Branch) employees and 412 elected justices, judges and circuit court clerks.

###