  In a complete sample of local 14-195 keV selected AGNs and inactive galaxies,
matched by their host galaxy properties, we study the spatially resolved
stellar kinematics and luminosity distributions at near-infrared wavelengths on
scales of 10-150 pc, using SINFONI on the VLT. In this paper, we present the
first half of the sample, which comprises 13 galaxies, 8 AGNs and 5 inactive
galaxies. The stellar velocity fields show a disk-like rotating pattern, for
which the kinematic position angle is in agreement with the photometric
position angle obtained from large scale images. For this set of galaxies, the
stellar surface brightness of the inactive galaxy sample is generally
comparable to the matched sample of AGN but extends to lower surface
brightness. After removal of the bulge contribution, we find a nuclear stellar
light excess with an extended nuclear disk structure, and which exhibits a
size-luminosity relation. While we expect the excess luminosity to be
associated with a dynamically cooler young stellar population, we do not
typically see a matching drop in dispersion. This may be because these galaxies
have pseudo-bulges in which the intrinsic dispersion increases towards the
centre. And although the young stars may have an impact in the observed
kinematics, their fraction is too small to dominate over the bulge and
compensate the increase in dispersion at small radii, so no dispersion drop is
seen. Finally, we find no evidence for a difference in the stellar kinematics
and nuclear stellar luminosity excess between these active and inactive
galaxies.
