TOPEKA — District courts in 34 counties, including several area counties, will transition to the new Kansas eCourt centralized case management system between Sept. 7 and 12, said Lisa Taylor, Kansas Courts public information director.
Collectively, the courts in these 34 counties are known as Track 6 in the Kansas eCourt statewide rollout plan. They are predominantly in southwest and southcentral Kansas, with the exception of the 1st Judicial District in the far northeast corner of the state.
After Track 6 courts complete the transition, 95% of all trial courts in Kansas will operate on the eCourt centralized case management system. Among the Track 6 districts is the 24th Judicial District: Edwards, Hodgeman, Lane, Ness, Pawnee, and Rush counties.
Court operations during cutover
During the cutover to the Kansas eCourt case management system, courts in Track 6 will remain open and operating but some procedures will change. The procedure changes are authorized by Supreme Court Administrative Order 2020-CM-067.
Courts in Track 6 will stop accepting electronically filed documents from attorneys. They will also stop accepting electronic payments. Courts will continue to accept paper filed documents from attorneys, and self-represented parties will be able to file on paper or by fax. The courts will accept only payments made in cash or by paper check.
Cutover starts Sept. 7
The cutover to the new case management system for Track 6 courts starts at 6 p.m. Wednesday, September 7. That’s when electronic filing will be turned off and courts will begin accepting paper filings from attorneys. This is also when the courts will stop accepting electronic payments and begin accepting only payments made in cash or by paper check.
Thursday, September 8, and Friday, September 9
Track 6 Courts will be open and will continue to operate during regular business hours. Electronic filing and electronic payments will still be turned off.
Monday, Sept. 12
Online services, including electronic filing and electronic payments, are scheduled to come back online at 12:01 a.m. September 12. Track 6 courts will be open during regular business hours and fully operating on the Kansas eCourt case management system.
Track 6 go live impact on courts in Track 1, 2, 3, and 5
There will be minimal impact to Track 1, 2, 3, and 5 courts when data from Track 6 courts is added to the Kansas eCourt case management system. Courts in these tracks already operate on the new case management system.
From 5 p.m. Friday, September 9, to 12:01 a.m. Monday, September 12, the Kansas eCourt case management system will be offline for courts in Tracks 1, 2, 3, and 5. The courts will not accept electronic filings or electronic payments.
While the Kansas eCourt case management system is offline for courts in Tracks 1, 2, 3, and 5, the Kansas District Court Public Access Portal will not be able to retrieve case data from those courts.
Among Track 1, 2, 3, and 5 is the 20th Judicial District: Barton, Ellsworth, Rice, Russell, and Stafford counties.
Kansas District Court Public Access Portal
As Kansas courts move to the Kansas eCourt case management system, their public records become available through the Kansas District Court Public Access Portal.
Public records are both case data and case documents. What will be available through the portal is described in Supreme Court Rule 22: Access to Public Electronic District Court Case Records.
Only documents filed after a court begins operating on the Kansas eCourt case management system will be available through the public access portal, as permitted under Supreme Court rule. Case data that predates the court beginning to operate on the Kansas eCourt case management system will be available if it complies with Supreme Court rule.
Public records not available through the public access portal will be available at the courthouse using a courthouse terminal. Each court has a computer reserved for public searches of court cases and court records in that court.
Sealed cases and sealed records are not public and will not be available through either the public portal or the courthouse terminal.
For more information, visit Search District Court Records on the Kansas judicial branch website.
