Kansas court systems disabled, here's why
TOPEKA (KSNT) - Kansas court systems are feeling the impact of a security incident reported last week.
Lisa Taylor with the Kansas Courts said in a press release the state's Supreme Court has issued a follow-up order on Monday, Oct. 16 confirming clerk offices in the appellate courts and all district courts remain unable to receive electronic filings. The only exception is the court in Johnson County.
Taylor said while courts are open and operating, court clerks are not able to receive electronic filings or electronic payments. All filings must be on paper or by fax at this time. Paper filings can be submitted in person or by mail.
The Kansas Supreme Court's new order, Administrative Order 2023-CC-074, declares clerk offices inaccessible due to the electronic filing systems in those courts being unavailable. This order allows a party to seek relief from a court if their filing is not timely.
“This order and other information on our website will guide court users on our operations while our information systems are offline,” said Chief Justice Marla Luckert. “We continue to serve our communities, but we are using different methods until our systems are restored.”
The Kansas Courts reported technical difficulties on Oct. 12. The following day, the Kansas Supreme Court issued an executive order declaring court clerk offices inaccessible until Sunday, Oct. 15 due to a security incident. This security incident has impacted systems used by the Kansas Courts statewide, including the efiling system used by attorneys for the filing of documents, the case management systems used by district and appellate courts and more.
Taylor said the Office of Judicial Administration is working to identify what happened with the security incident and how far it has reached. Until these questions are answered, the Office of Judicial Administration is unable to predict when systems will be returned to normal.
Current network issues faced by the judicial branch include:
- Kansas Courts eFiling, which accepts electronically filed documents.
- Kansas Protection Order Portal, which accepts electronically filed documents.
- Kansas District Court Public Access Portal, which allows searching district court case information.
- Appellate Case Inquiry System, which allows searching appellate court case information.
- Kansas Attorney Registration, which allows searching for an attorney by name or bar number.
- Kansas online marriage license application. Persons can still apply, but the application will not be sent to a district court for processing through the efiling system.
- Central Payment Center, which operates in the Office of Judicial Administration, will not be able to process disbursements on behalf of district courts.
- Kansas eCourt case management system, which district courts use to process cases.
A page is now dedicated to the security incident on the Kansas Judicial Branch's website. It can be found by clicking here.
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