'Network security incident' leaves Kansas court system operating by paper and fax machines
Much of the state's judicial branch of government is relying on hard copies of paper and fax machines as court officials examine a "network security incident" that has shut down online operations.
The Kansas Judicial Branch first reported network issues affecting user access and online services on Thursday. It prompted a pair of administrative orders from the Kansas Supreme Court to provide for the continuity of operations while electronic filing remains unavailable.
"This order and other information on our website will guide court users on our operations while our information systems are offline," Chief Justice Marla Luckert said in a Monday statement. "We continue to serve our communities, but we are using different methods until our systems are restored."
A series of news releases from the Kansas Judicial Branch provide more information on what is known — and what isn't.
Experts have been called in as court system seeks answers
The Office of Judicial Administration has brought in "experts from several sources" to help answer:
What happened in the security incident.
How it happened.
How far it reached.
"It's an appropriate next step in a situation like this to define the extent to which our systems are affected," Luckert said in a Friday statement. "We've called in experts to continue that process, and I'm grateful for the number of people who have reached out to us with offers of support."
Kansas courts don't know how long systems will be down
Since the court system does not yet have answers from the experts, it "can't predict when the systems will be brought back online."
"Information circulating publicly about court systems being down two weeks emanates from continuity of operations discussions in the Office of Judicial Administration," the news release said. "By applying a timeline, the office could focus on court and court user needs and how to meet them while its systems are offline."
District courts and appellate courts are affected
The Kansas Supreme Court, Kansas Court of Appeals and all district courts except Johnson County are unable to receive electronic filings.
Johnson County District Court is unaffected because it operates on an efiling and case management system separate from the statewide system.
The courts remain open and operating but unable to receive electronic filings or electronic payments. That means all filings must be done by mailed paper, hand-delivered paper or fax machine.
The court administrative orders allow parties affected by the network issue to seek relief from their court if their filing does not meet the deadline.
Network issues are affecting several online systems
The security incident has affected several systems used daily by attorneys, court staff and the public to file documents and process cases.
The judicial branch reported that the following online systems are among those affected by the network issues:
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.
Additional information, including for attorneys and the public, is available online from the judicial branch's security incident webpage.
Jason Alatidd is a statehouse reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached by email at jalatidd@gannett.com. Follow him on X @Jason_Alatidd.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas court systems looks for answers on network security incident
