Passport Acceptance Offices in Kentucky
From the Appalachian coalfields in the east to the Ohio and Mississippi river bottoms in the far west, Kentucky spreads its 209 passport acceptance offices across 130 cities and towns.
🔎 Find an office near you
130 cities
📖 About Kentucky
From the Appalachian coalfields in the east to the Ohio and Mississippi river bottoms in the far west, Kentucky spreads its 209 passport acceptance offices across 130 cities and towns. Most are U.S. post offices, with county clerks and public libraries filling in the gaps. The wide spread reflects a wide state: Kentucky is carved into 120 counties, the third-highest total in the country after Texas and Georgia, so a courthouse or post office window is rarely far from home.
The busiest clusters follow the population and the military. Louisville and Lexington lead the civilian side, while two Army communities shape the map on their own: Fort Campbell straddles the Tennessee line near Hopkinsville, and Fort Knox sits south of the metro along the road to Elizabethtown. Bowling Green, Owensboro, Paducah, Richmond, and the Northern Kentucky river cities across from Cincinnati round out the places where offices bunch together.
Every acceptance office handles the same first-time and minor applications, checks your documents, witnesses your signature, and mails the sealed packet to a State Department processing center. What differs is the hours: some windows open only a few afternoons a week, and many now take passport work by appointment. It pays to call ahead before you drive across the county.
🗺️ Areas covered
📝 How applying works
Most passport acceptance offices are U.S. Post Offices, public libraries, and county or city clerk offices that act as official acceptance facilities. You apply in person using Form DS-11 if you are getting a passport for the first time, if your previous passport was lost, stolen, or damaged, if it was issued more than 15 years ago, or if you were under 16 when it was issued.
Fill out the form ahead of time but do not sign it — a passport agent must watch you sign. Some facilities accept walk-ins during set passport hours, while others require an appointment, so it is worth calling the office listed on your city’s page before you go.
🎒 What to bring
💳 Fees
| Service | To U.S. Dept. of State | To the facility |
|---|---|---|
| Adult passport book (age 16+) | $130 | $35 |
| Adult passport card (age 16+) | $30 | $35 |
| Adult book + card | $160 | $35 |
| Child passport book (under 16) | $100 | $35 |
| Child passport card (under 16) | $15 | $35 |
| Child book + card | $115 | $35 |
The application fee is paid to the U.S. Department of State; the $35 execution (acceptance) fee is paid to the facility where you apply. Expedited service adds $60, and faster return delivery is available for a small extra charge. Fees are set nationally and are the same at every acceptance office in the country.
⏱️ Processing times
As of 2026, routine passport applications take about 4–6 weeks to process, and expedited applications about 2–3 weeks, counted from the day the State Department receives your application. Add roughly 2 weeks for mailing on each end.
The busiest season runs from late winter through summer, so apply between October and December when you can. If you are traveling within 14 days, you will need an appointment at a regional passport agency rather than a local acceptance facility.
💡 Good to know
Renewals rarely need an office at all — most adults who still hold their previous book can renew by mail and skip the counter. The acceptance offices listed here are for first-time applicants, children, and anyone who has to apply in person.
Bring a certified birth certificate or other proof of citizenship plus a photo ID, and leave the application unsigned until the acceptance agent tells you to sign. Many Kentucky post offices take the required photo on-site, but a few do not, so it's worth confirming when you call. For a child under 16, both parents or legal guardians normally need to appear together, or the absent parent must provide notarized consent.