Judicial branch begins restoring case management system in district courts

Access to efiling system not expected before end of year

TOPEKA—The Kansas judicial branch is beginning its phased restoration of the Kansas eCourt case management system starting with three judicial districts Wednesday and a plan to reach the remaining district courts by late next week.

The case management system is used by district courts to process cases. It is among several information systems temporarily incapacitated by an October 12 cyberattack.

The Kansas Courts eFiling system used by attorneys to electronically file documents in district courts is expected to be available around the end of the year.

“Restoring our district court case management system is a much-anticipated milestone in our recovery plan, but we still have a lot of work to do,” said Chief Justice Marla Luckert. “When a court regains access to the case management system, it starts another critical phase in our restoration—updating information.”

Courts could take several weeks to update the case management system to reflect case events and filings that occurred while the system was inoperable. 

“We renew our request for everyone’s patience as we work through our multiphase recovery,” Luckert said.   

Courts regaining access to case management system

Courts in two judicial districts had their access to the Kansas eCourt case management system restored Wednesday, courts in three more districts will regain access Friday, and courts in four districts on Monday.

The two districts that regained access Wednesday are:

• 9th Judicial District: Harvey and McPherson counties

• 23rd Judicial District: Ellis, Gove, Rooks, and Trego counties

Scheduled to regain access Friday are:

• 8th Judicial District: Dickinson, Geary, Marion, and Morris counties

• 13th Judicial District: Butler, Elk, and Greenwood counties

• 27th Judicial District: Reno County

Scheduled Monday are:

• 3rd Judicial District: Shawnee County

• 12th Judicial District: Cloud, Jewell, Lincoln, Mitchell, Republic, and Washington counties

• 17th Judicial District: Decatur, Graham, Norton, Osborne, Phillips, and Smith counties

• 19th Judicial District: Cowley County

Judicial districts will continue to regain access to the case management system until it is operating in courts in 104 counties, which should be by the end of next week. 

The only exception is Johnson County District Court, which currently processes cases on a standalone case management system. It will join other district courts on the Kansas eCourt case management system in 2024.

Portal access through courthouse terminals only

When the case management system is restored in a district court, that court can offer visitors the option to search district court case information through a courthouse terminal.

Because courts have not had access to the case management system for several weeks, case events and case documents dated after October 12 are not likely to show up in the search, at least initially. It could take courts several weeks to bring all case events and documents up to date. 
 
A similar search capability through the web-based Kansas District Court Public Access Portal will not be available until sometime after all district courts have their access to the case management system restored.

The public can continue to search cases through a public access service center in the Kansas Judicial Center in Topeka, or visit a district court that has regained access to the case management system.  

Electronic payments to courts

As a court regains access to the case management system, it will also be able to receive electronic payments. However, balances due in the case management system could be out of date.

Payments received after October 12 are being logged now by the Office of Judicial Administration’s central payment center in Topeka.

“Our central payment center team is working as fast as it can to record all payments made while the case management system was offline, but it will take time,” Luckert said. “Again, we ask for patience as we work through all the phases of our recovery.”

Clerk of district court hours of operation

The Office of Judicial Administration recommended district courts consider several strategies to bring the case management system up to date. One recommendation is to temporarily modify clerk office hours to give staff uninterrupted time to focus on entering case events and adding documents.

A person who has business with a court clerk office is advised to check the district court’s website or call the court clerk office to verify their current hours of operation. Modified clerk office hours do not affect scheduled court appearances.

Visit District Courts for court contact information.

Other online services restored

Along with restoring access to the case management system in district courts, the judicial branch has also restored some online services.

The Kansas Protection Order Portal again accepts electronically filed requests for orders of protection from abuse, stalking, and human trafficking.

The Kansas online marriage license application has also been restored, so couples can now apply for a marriage license online.

Appellate information systems

The efiling and case management systems used by the Kansas Supreme Court and the Kansas Court of Appeals will be brought back online after district court systems. The Office of Judicial Administration will share a timeline as work advances.

Updates

Updates on the cyberattack and efforts to restore court information systems are on the Court Systems Security Incident webpage.