Kansas Court Case Search — Find Your Lawsuit

Legal Expert, Paralegal
Dena Standley, BA

Dena Standley is a seasoned paralegal with more than 20 years of experience in legal research and writing, having received a certification as a Legal Assistant/Paralegal from Southern Technical College.

Edited by Hannah Locklear

Editor at SoloSuit
Hannah Locklear, BA

Hannah Locklear is SoloSuit’s Marketing and Impact Manager. With an educational background in Linguistics, Spanish, and International Development from Brigham Young University, Hannah has also worked as a legal support specialist for several years.

Summary: Kansas courts make it relatively easy to find and access your court records if you’re being sued by a debt collector. You can check the status of your Kansas court case at the courthouse or online. Use SoloSuit to respond to a debt collection lawsuit and increase your chances of winning by 7x.

A debt collection lawsuit can destabilize your life financially and psychologically—the uncertainty of whether you'll win your case or not can make you feel helpless. Accessing your case records can help ease the tension because you can plan accordingly and ensure the debt collection agency has filed accurate information, all while staying updated on the status of your case..

Kansas allows its citizens to access their records online or physically by visiting the courthouse where the collection agency filed the case. This article will help you understand how the Kansas judicial system works and how to access your case records.

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Court Structure in Kansas

Understanding the Kansas court system will save you time and resources and help you know which court has jurisdiction over your case. Since debt collection lawsuits are considered civil cases, this section will focus on Kansas’ civil court structure.

Use the information below to find out where, why, and how your case was filed. The Kansas court structure has four levels of courts. Kansas civil courts have three levels: Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, and District Courts. Each court performs various functions as follows:

Supreme Court: Located in Topeka, this is the court of last resort for the state. It hears cases from the Court of Appeals and, in some situations, directly from the district courts. In addition, it can transfer cases from the Court of Appeals or review cases already decided by the same court.
Court of Appeals: Known as an intermediate appellate court, this court hears cases from the district courts in criminal, civil, and writ application matters. However, they do not listen to cases appealed directly to the Supreme Court. So, if you disagree with the decision of the district courts and make an appeal, it’s very likely that the Court of Appeals will be the next court to hear your case.
District Courts: These courts have general jurisdiction over civil cases, including small claims not exceeding $4,000 and regular civil cases with no monetary limit. Most proceedings with jury participation occur here.

The graphic below further illustrates the Kansas court structure:

KS court structure

Your debt collection case will be heard in the District Court, likely under the small claims division, in your county. The small claims division offers the parties a rapid case progression at minimal costs, and you do not need an attorney to represent you. Any amount exceeding $4,000 will be handled by the District Court’s regular civil division with jurisdiction over that amount.

You’re probably thinking you need to hire an attorney to represent you in your debt collection case. Finding a lawyer can be stressful and expensive. Save yourself the anxiety and money by representing yourself with SoloSuit’s help.

Watch this video to learn how to answer a debt collection lawsuit without hiring an attorney:

How to find your case number in Kansas

Kansas enables you to access your records easily due to the case numbers they assign to every matter presented to the court. The court clerk derives the number from information such as the case type, the year the case was filed, and the county's initials.

You can find your case number by submitting your details in the Appellate Courts Search Portal or the Kansas District Court Public Access Portal. The results will produce the case details with the case number.

You can also visit the courthouse where the case was filed and submit your details to the court clerk, who’ll look for the case number at a small fee. Find your county’s district court location here.

How to access your case records in Kansas

You can only access your case files at the courthouse where the case is filed or online. If you don’t know where your courthouse is located, check the lawsuit Summons and Complaint you received; the court name and address are usually indicated. Let’s discuss the two main ways you can access your case information a little further.

Access your Kansas court case records in-person

To find the exact court location, visit the Kansas District Court directory page and find the judicial district in which your county is located. The 105 counties in Kansas are shared among 31 judicial districts. For example, district 20 serves Barton, Ellsworth, Rice, Russell, and Stafford counties.

Check each district until you find your county’s name. Next, click on the district, and you’ll be taken to a page with the courthouse names listed together with the contact information.

When you arrive at the courthouse, you’ll be required to submit a written request containing your details, and the court clerk will look for the case records. In some courts, all you have to do is ask the court clerk for help. Some courthouses also have public terminals where you can access your files. You may be charged a small fee to make copies.

Access your Kansas court case records online

Online access is the quickest way to find your case records in Kansas. Citizens can access their case information for free using the Kansas District Court Public Access Portal. The only downside is that you must fill out this form to make copies. You have several options to choose from to find your case information:

Smart search
General options (county search)
Party search
Case search

Let’s consider an example.

Example: Doug had a debt of $900 with TrueAccord, and after ignoring their attempts to collect, he received a Summons and Complaint from them. Extremely worried, Doug went online to research what to do. SoloSuit’s video’s helped him understand his next step was to file a response. Dough used SoloSuit to draft and file his Answer, after which he also learned that he could follow up on the case by searching his case records online. He went to the Kansan Public Access portal and searched for his case information by entering the case number indicated in the lawsuit. With this information, Dough was able to stay updated on his case each step of the way.

Notably, the following counties use the Kansas Office of Administration website to provide case information at a fee of $1.50 per search:

Douglas
Sedgwick
Shawnee
Wyandotte

Shawnee county also gives its citizens a free portal to search their cases apart from the one that charges. You can access Johnson county court records using this link. If your case is in the appellate courts, use Kansas Appellate Courts' Case Inquiry System to search for your case information.

SoloSuit wants to help

SoloSuit wants to help you win your debt collection case using our documents acceptable in Kansas courts. They include Debt Validation Letter, an Answer, and a Motion to Compel Arbitration. These documents increase your chances of receiving a fair judgment or forcing the lawsuit out of court. You can also use SoloSettle which makes it easy to settle a debt.

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You can use SoloSuit to respond to a debt lawsuit, to send letters to collectors, and even to settle a debt.

SoloSuit's Answer service is a step-by-step web-app that asks you all the necessary questions to complete your Answer. Upon completion, we'll have an attorney review your document and we'll file it for you.

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"First time getting sued by a debt collector and I was searching all over YouTube and ran across SoloSuit, so I decided to buy their services with their attorney reviewed documentation which cost extra but it was well worth it! SoloSuit sent the documentation to the parties and to the court which saved me time from having to go to court and in a few weeks the case got dismissed!" – James

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>>Read the FastCompany article: Debt Lawsuits Are Complicated: This Website Makes Them Simpler To Navigate