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Kentucky ALJ Statistics

Social Security Disability hearing statistics for 4 hearing offices and 28 administrative law judges in Kentucky.

State Approval Rate

54.3%

vs 58.3% national

Hearing Offices

4

in Kentucky

ALJs

28

active judges

Avg Wait Time

6.7 months

vs 8 months national

Hearing Offices in Kentucky

Office ALJs Approval Rate Wait Time Processing Pending
Lexington 11 51.9% 6 months 224 days 2,163
Louisville 10 56.6% 7 months 251 days 2,085
Middlesboro 4 55.3% 7 months 247 days 1,031
Paducah 3 55.3% 6 months 222 days 798

About Kentucky Disability Hearings

Disability claimants in Kentucky have access to 4 SSA hearing offices as part of Region 04. The state's 28 Administrative Law Judges handle the disability hearing caseload across these locations.

The average approval rate across Kentucky hearing offices is 54.3%, which is close to the national average of 58.3%. This rate aggregates decisions from all judges across the state's hearing offices.

Wait times across Kentucky offices range from 6 months at the Paducah hearing office to 7 months at the Middlesboro hearing office.

Across all offices, there are 6,077 cases currently pending in Kentucky, averaging approximately 217 pending cases per judge. Click on any hearing office below to see detailed judge-level statistics and individual approval rates.

Kentucky Hearing Landscape

With 4 hearing offices spread across the state, Kentucky's disability hearing landscape offers multiple points of comparison for attorneys and claimants. Case assignment is determined by residential address, so the specific office — and the judges at that office — depends on where the claimant lives. All statistics on this page are weighted by individual judge caseloads to accurately reflect the volume of cases processed.

With 4 hearing offices, Kentucky provides multiple venues for disability hearings. Office sizes vary from 3 judges at the Paducah hearing office to 11 judges at the Lexington hearing office. Cases are assigned to offices based on the claimant's residential address, so hearing location is determined by geography rather than preference.

For attorneys practicing disability law in Kentucky, understanding the local hearing landscape is an important part of case preparation. The data on this page provides a starting point for evaluating office-level patterns, though individual judge statistics offer more granular insight into decision-making tendencies. Visit individual office pages for judge-level data.

Kentucky Disability Hearing FAQ

What are my chances of approval in Kentucky?
The average ALJ approval rate in Kentucky is 54.3% for FY 2025. This includes both fully favorable and partially favorable decisions. The national average is 58.3%, putting Kentucky below the national benchmark. Office-level rates within the state range from 51.9% to 56.6%.
Which cities in Kentucky have SSA hearing offices?
Kentucky has 4 SSA hearing offices with a total of 28 administrative law judges. The largest office is the Lexington hearing office with 11 judges, while the Paducah hearing office has 3. Your hearing office is determined by where you live, and the specific judge is assigned through the office's rotational calendar — neither is chosen by the claimant.
What is the fastest hearing office in Kentucky?
The Paducah hearing office currently has the shortest wait time at 6 months. The longest wait is at the Middlesboro hearing office at 7 months, a gap of 1.0 months. Note that wait times are point-in-time estimates from SSA reporting and may vary from month to month based on case volume and staffing changes.
How is state data calculated?
With 28 active judges, Kentucky processes a significant caseload. State averages are calculated by aggregating data from all hearing offices within the state. See our methodology page for details on data sources and calculations. These figures rely on SSA's publicly released disposition records, which are processed and incorporated into our database as each reporting cycle concludes.
Where does Kentucky rank in disability hearing outcomes?
Kentucky is in SSA Region 04. Its average approval rate of 54.3% is below the national average of 58.3%. For a full comparison of approval rates and wait times across all states, visit the states overview page.
What affects disability hearing results in Kentucky?
Hearing outcomes in Kentucky are influenced by several factors including the strength and completeness of medical evidence, vocational factors such as the claimant's age, education, and work history, the quality of legal representation at the hearing, and individual judge decision-making patterns. With 28 active judges across 4 offices, outcomes in Kentucky reflect a broad range of judicial decision-making patterns.

While all ALJs apply the same federal disability standards, these case-level factors can lead to variation in outcomes across offices and judges.
Can I request a different hearing location in Kentucky?
Hearing location is determined by the claimant's home address. Within each office, judges are assigned cases through a rotational scheduling system. While transfers between offices are generally not possible based on preference, a change of address that moves you into a different office's service area may result in case reassignment. Kentucky has 4 hearing offices, each serving a defined geographic area within the state.

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