TOPEKA — The online court portal that allows people to search Kansas district court cases is online after a cyber attack that disabled the system since Oct. 12, 2023.
The attack disabled people from being able to access records at a court or from home on their computers. However, it also delayed ongoing cases because the hacking affected the Kansas eCourt case management system district courts use to process cases.
The Kansas Judicial Branch said the information found on the portal is temporarily out of date because attorneys had switched to paper filings during recent months. Most public information from the case management system is available on the Kansas District Court Public Access Portal, which also allows court users to pay fines, fees, and costs online.
Information about recent payments and related cases may be out of date for now. The Central Payment Center in the Office of Judicial Administration is logging payments in the mean time.
“In the short time we’ve offered free online case search for district courts as part of our Kansas eCourt modernization plan, it has become our most popular service,” Chief Justice Marla Luckert said in the announcement.
“Restoring the ability to search case information online is yet another major milestone in our restoration plan.”
District courts are working to digitize case information recorded on paper following the online shutdown. Upon finishing the digitization, additional information will be added to the case management system.
Case events and case documents processed after the Oct. 12, 2023, security incident may not show up for now.
Kansas eCourt case management system restoration nearly complete
Courts in 102 of Kansas’ 105 counties representing 29 of the state’s 31 judicial districts have had their access to the Kansas eCourt case management system restored.
Johnson County District Court currently operates on a standalone case management system, but will join other district courts on the Kansas eCourt case management system sometime in 2024.
Court clerks update paper to digital
As court clerks work on updating paper records into the online system, some offices have temporarily modified hours to give staff uninterrupted time to focus on entering case events and adding documents online.
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.
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.
