David L. Nicholson

David L. Nicholson, a lifelong resident of Louisville, Kentucky, was elected Jefferson County Circuit Court Clerk in 2006 and re-elected to a second term in 2012.

The Circuit Court Clerk is a constitutional office that is part of the Kentucky Court of Justice. The core business of the office is to serve as custodian of all district, circuit and family court records in Jefferson County. In addition, the office issues Kentucky driver’s licenses and identification cards in partnership with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and the Kentucky State Police.

Nicholson’s office employs 324 deputy clerks who work in eight locations across the county, processing more than 150,000 new court cases and issuing more than 190,000 driver’s licenses each year.

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 24/7/365 service. His office has annual revenue of more than $29 million.

Under his leadership, his 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 web-based systems.
• Opened a long-overdue driver’s license branch in West Louisville for that underserved area of the community.
• Implemented the practice of using metrics as a way of measuring performance for the office.
• Invested in ongoing employee development and training, and advocated for promoting from within the organization.

Nicholson is actively involved in several local, state and national organizations.

He is a member of the Board of Directors of Kosair Charities, Christian Care Communities and the Center for Women and Families. In addition to serving as the President of the Kentucky Association of Counties (KACo), he is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Counties (NACo) and serves as the subcommittee Vice-Chair of Courts and Corrections on NACo’s Justice and Public Safety Committee policy committee.

He is a 2012 graduate of the prestigious County Leadership Institute in Washington, D.C., and a former president (2010-11) of the Kentucky Association of Circuit Court Clerks. 

Prior to becoming Circuit Court Clerk, Nicholson served as the executive director of the Louisville Metro Criminal Justice Commission from 1998 to 2006. As head of that organization, he supervised the planning, research and systemwide coordination of initiatives to help Louisville’s first responders (police, fire and emergency medical services) keep the 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. He joined the Criminal Justice Commission in 1991.

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, Missouri and attended the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama.

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

Nicholson and his wife, Debra, have instilled in their two children the honor of service to others. Their daughter, Sara Michael, is a sitting district court judge in Jefferson County, and their son, Samuel, is a practicing attorney representing victims of employment discrimination.