Judicial notice is a court’s acceptance of a well-known and indisputable fact without requiring the party relying on the fact to prove it. The doctrine of judicial notice is one of common sense, and is based on the theory that where a fact is well-known in the community—or its existence is easily determined from sources that cannot be reasonably questioned—it would not be a good use of judicial time and resources to require formal proof of the fact in court. A court may take judicial notice of both facts and laws.

In Kentucky, the concept of judicial notice aligns with the general principles found in both state statutes and federal law. Kentucky Rules of Evidence (KRE) Rule 201 governs judicial notice of adjudicative facts. This rule allows Kentucky courts to take judicial notice of facts that are not subject to reasonable dispute because they are either (1) generally known within the territorial jurisdiction of the court or (2) capable of accurate and ready determination by resorting to sources whose accuracy cannot reasonably be questioned. The court may take judicial notice whether requested by a party or not, and it may do so at any stage of the proceeding. The rule also provides that the court must take judicial notice if a party requests it and the party supplies the necessary information. Additionally, KRE Rule 202 covers judicial notice of law, which includes the law of Kentucky, federal law, and the law of other states, territories, and jurisdictions. The doctrine of judicial notice is intended to streamline legal proceedings by acknowledging certain facts and laws that are so commonly known or easily verifiable that requiring formal proof would be unnecessary and inefficient.