Judicial branch announces plan to restore district court information systems

TOPEKA—The Kansas judicial branch tentatively plans to restore most information systems used by district courts in 104 Kansas counties by year-end, including systems used to process cases and receive electronically filed documents.

The Kansas Supreme Court announced last week that the judiciary’s information systems were temporarily incapacitated by a cyberattack.

The recovery plan announced today follows best practices for safely restoring and managing information systems following this type of security incident.

The timeline, which projects work to be accomplished over the next several weeks, is also subject to change.  

“To help us prepare our recovery timeline, we sought input from cybersecurity incident recovery experts,” said Chief Justice Marla Luckert. “While we believe our estimate is realistic, we must be prepared for fluctuations as we move forward with our plan." 

Early effort launched service centers

In early November, the Office of Judicial Administration opened two service centers in the Kansas Judicial Center in Topeka. One is a public access service center people visit in person by appointment to search district court case information. The other fills district court information needs until the Kansas eCourt case management system is restored in district courts.

Kansas eCourt case management system

The Kansas eCourt case management system is used by district courts in 104 counties. It centralizes case data and provides a register of actions in each case. It will be reintroduced to district courts in phases. It is expected to be in use by courts in all but Johnson County by the end of the year.

Johnson County District Court currently processes cases on a standalone case management system. Johnson County District Court will join other district courts on the Kansas eCourt case management system in 2024.

Kansas Courts eFiling system

The Kansas Courts eFiling system is used by attorneys and justice partners to file documents electronically in district court cases. It will be brought back online after the Kansas eCourt case management system is restored in district courts.

While the efiling system is offline, parties need to deliver paper filings to the courthouse in person, by fax, by mail, or by courier. When payment is required with a filing, it must be by cash, check, or money order submitted with the filing.

Two administrative orders from the Supreme Court address filings and email service while the efiling system is offline:

Administrative Order 2023-CC-074 outlines filing requirements while the efiling system is offline.

Administrative Order 2023-RL-077 adopts a temporary rule that gives the parameters for attorneys and self-represented litigants to meet service requirements by email.

Kansas District Court Public Access Portal

The Kansas District Court Public Access Portal provides access to public district court case information online. It’s also used to pay fines, fees, and other costs online. It will be brought back online after the Kansas eCourt case management system and Kansas Courts eFiling system are restored in district courts.

Currently, district courts are unable to process electronic payments. All payments must be made by cash, check, or money order. Visit Pay a Fine or Fee for more information.

Other eCourt components

There are other systems used to submit filings to courts electronically, although they are not part of the Kansas Courts eFiling system. These services will be restored as soon as practicable.

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

The Kansas online marriage license application allows couples to 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 available on the Court Systems Security Incident wepage.