Kansas Court Docket Search

Kansas Court Docket Search

A Kansas court docket search is typically conducted to access court-record information maintained by the Kansas judiciary. This is especially necessary for legal professionals seeking access to case history, employers or law enforcement agencies performing background checks, and members of the public seeking court records for private use. Pursuant to the provisions of K.S.A. 45-215 et seq, court records are deemed public and available for public inspection unless specifically exempted by law.

What is a Court Docket in Kansas?

A Kansas court docket is a legal record that contains briefs about the hearings of cases filed in Kansas. Usually, cases filed in a Kansas court are assigned docket numbers by the Clerk of Court. This docket number, or a case number, is a unique identifier for any particular case and helps easily retrieve the record. A Kansas court docket would typically include some of the following basic case information:

• A case title
• A case number
• The date a case was filed.
• Document filed during the hearing - opinions, judgments
• Information regarding case subject(s) or any relevant party

It is the court clerk's duty (the courts' administrative office) to preserve, manage, and make available to the public court dockets. Like Kansas court records, the information contained in court dockets is publicly available, while the disclosure is restricted for sensitive information.

What is the Purpose of a Court Docket in Kansas?

Kansas court dockets are relevant to members of the judiciary system as well as members of the public in that they serve the following purposes,

• Court dockets are a calendar for all relevant parties involved in ongoing court cases. They contain hearing dates, times, and venues.
• They are used as references as they contain the summary of the event that took place during the case process.
• Court dockets are used by judicial staff members for the management of cases, especially in a situation where several ongoing case hearings occur in a particular court.

Are Court Dockets Public Records in Kansas?

Yes. The provision made in Kansas Open Record Act ensures that members of the public can inspect and obtain public records if they are not considered confidential by law. Court records of which dockets are part of are considered public records in Kansas, and public access is allowable by law.

Note that selected court records may be deemed confidential as stated in the Kansas Statute 45-221 and hence not accessible to members of the public include,

• Adoption records.
• Juvenile case records.
• Some criminal investigation records.
• Expunged records.
• Grand jury proceedings.

These records are only obtainable by individuals who have legal permission to access them.

What Do Kansas Court Dockets Contain?

Generally, a Kansas Court Docket contains the following information:

• Case type, case number, and case status.
• The filing date of a case.
• Names of parties, attornies, and the judge involved in the case
• Calendar for hearings of a case, dates, venue, and time.

Where to Find a Court Docket in Kansas?

Kansas court dockets are maintained at state and county level by relevant court custodians. The Judicial Branch in Kansas makes court dockets available online on its web page. Hence, persons looking to find a Supreme Court docket would find one on the Kansas Judicial Branch web page. Appellate Court dockets are also made available on the website.

Those who want to find District Court dockets can visit the website of the District Court that handled or is handling the case to find the docket. For example, one can find a docket for a case filed in the 8th District Court of Kansas on the court's web page.

An inquirer can also visit the courthouse where a case was filed in person to request to inspect the court docket. One must provide a case number and fill out a request form.

How to Conduct a Kansas Court Docket Search

Individuals interested in conducting a Kansas docket search can check the website of the Kansas Judicial Branch. A court docket search may be performed thus:

• On the home page, click on the 'About the Court' option at the top of the page.
• Select the court docket you want to search (Supreme or Appellate Court).

A page would be displayed where one would find links to dockets for past, present, and future cases in which hearing dates have been fixed.

One can request a docket via phone or email. However, the requester would need to complete and submit a request form.

A requester can as well visit the courthouse where the case was filed to use any of the computers within the court to search for court dockets. One can also request court dockets from the clerk at the courthouse. The inquirer would also need to fill out and submit a request form. The docket number of the case, the title of the case, the names of the parties involved in the case, or the date filed would be needed to retrieve the docket.

What is a Court Docket Number in Kansas?

A court docket number in Kansas is a code assigned by the court clerk to a case filed in that court. It is a combination of numbers, alphabets, and special characters. The docket number gives certain information about the case. Information such as:

• The year a case was filed
• The case type
• The case number

The new docket numbering system includes the initials of the County where the case was filed e.g., RL-2019-CR-000001.

With the old numbering system format, the first part of the docket number is usually the year the case was filed, the second part represented by alphabet is the case type, and the last part is the case number as assigned by the court. In the new docket numbering, the first part represented by alphabet represents the county where the case was filed.

How to Conduct a Court Docket Number Lookup in Kansas

Individuals who want to conduct a court docket number lookup in Kansas can use the case inquiry system provided on the web pages of the Kansas Judicial Branch. For instance, to search for an Appellate court docket number,

• Click on 'Cases and Decisions' at the top of the home page.
• A page would be displayed; scroll down and click on the 'search Appellate cases

An inquirer would need to provide another parameter, e.g., a name or search by county.

To search for a Kansas District Court record to look up a docket number, one would be charged a $1.50 fee per search. Users can search records by court type.

One can also conduct a docket number lookup in person at the courthouse where the case was filed. Checking the court docket is another option for looking up a docket number.