Judicial Administration

(a) Judicial Administrator’s Duties. The judicial administrator is responsible to the Supreme Court. Under the supervision of the chief justice, the judicial administrator must implement the court’s policies for operating and administering the district and appellate courts. The judicial administrator’s duties are as follows: (1) examine the status of the district courts’ dockets and notify the Supreme Court if a court needs assistance; (2) collect and compile statistics on all cases filed in each district and appellate court and annually submit to the Supreme Court a detailed report on the status of the courts’ dockets; (3) periodically determine the number of pending district and appellate court cases, the number of dispositions since the last report, and any additional information the judicial administrator or Supreme Court finds necessary; (4) make recommendations to the departmental justices about out-of-district judicial assignments and assist the justices in making the assignments; (5) supervise and examine the administrative methods and systems used in the district courts, including by court clerks and other court officers, and recommend improvements to the Supreme Court; (6) help the Supreme Court manage the judicial branch’s fiscal affairs, including federal grants; (7) consistent with the Kansas Court Personnel Rules, coordinate personnel matters for the judicial branch, including judicial and nonjudicial personnel orientation and education; (8) execute contracts on behalf of the judicial branch and the Office of Judicial Administration and delegate this authority to a member of the executive team when the judicial administrator is unavailable; and (9) perform any other duty required by statute or assigned by the Supreme Court. (b) Court Clerk; Reports and Information. The clerk of a district court and clerk of the appellate courts must promptly submit the following to the judicial administrator: (1) required reports; and (2) information requested by the judicial administrator or a justice on a form provided by the judicial administrator and approved by the Supreme Court. (c) Judicial Departments. Under K.S.A. 20-318 et seq., the Supreme Court divides the state into the following six judicial departments: (1) Judicial Department No. 1 – Twelfth, Fifteenth, Seventeenth, Twenty-third, and Twenty-eighth judicial districts; (2) Judicial Department No. 2 – Second, Third, Eighth, and Twenty-first judicial districts; (3) Judicial Department No. 3 – First, Fourth, Seventh, Twenty-second, and Twenty-ninth judicial districts; (4) Judicial Department No. 4 – Sixth, Tenth, Eleventh, Fourteenth, and Thirty-first judicial districts; (5) Judicial Department No. 5 – Fifth, Ninth, Thirteenth, Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Thirtieth judicial districts; and (6) Judicial Department No. 6 – Sixteenth, Twentieth, Twenty-fourth, Twenty-fifth, Twenty-sixth, and Twenty-seventh judicial districts. (d) Departmental Justice; Judicial Assignment. (1) Departmental Justice Assignment. A departmental justice may assign a district court judge in the justice’s department to another judicial district in the department. (2) Departmental Justice Request. A departmental justice may ask another justice to assign a district court judge in that justice’s judicial department to help in a judicial district in the requesting justice’s department. (3) Retired Justice or Judge. A departmental justice may recommend to the chief justice the assignment of a retired justice of the Supreme Court, judge of the Court of Appeals, or district judge to perform judicial duties in a district court in the justice’s department if the retiree is willing to serve. (e) Chief Judge; Judicial Assignment. (1) Chief Judge Request. The chief judge of a judicial district may submit a request to the judicial administrator for the assignment of a district court judge from another judicial district. The judicial administrator must promptly refer the request and a recommendation on the request to the appropriate departmental justice. (2) Chief Judge Duties When Receiving Help. Under the judicial administrator’s supervision, a chief judge of a judicial district who receives help from a district court judge in another judicial district or from a retired justice or judge is responsible for the following: (A) referring cases to the assigned judge while giving preference to cases that cannot be tried because of the accumulation of business; (B) arranging courtroom accommodations for the assigned judge; and (C) designating a court employee to serve as contact for the assigned judge. (f) Kansas Open Records Act Administration. This subsection governs the administration of the Kansas Open Records Act, K.S.A. 45-215 et seq. (KORA), for public records maintained by district and appellate courts. (1) Official Custodians. (A) The public information director for the Supreme Court is the official custodian of public records maintained by the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, and Office of Judicial Administration, except for records described in subsection (f)(1)(B). (B) The clerk of the appellate courts is the official custodian of public records maintained by the Office of the Clerk of the Appellate Courts. (C) The chief judge of each judicial district must appoint a district court employee in each county to serve as the official custodian of public records maintained by that district court. The public information director for the Supreme Court will work with the official custodian in a district court to facilitate prompt responses to KORA requests. (2) Procedure. The judicial administrator must establish procedures consistent with K.S.A. 45-220 for requesting access to and obtaining a copy of a public record from a district or an appellate court. (3) Forms. The judicial administrator must develop forms for making or responding to a public records request. The request forms must be available to the public on the Judicial Branch website at www.kscourts.gov. (4) Fees. (A) The judicial administrator must establish fees for providing access to or furnishing a copy of a public record maintained by the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, Office of Judicial Administration, or Office of the Clerk of the Appellate Courts. (B) The fees established by the judicial administrator may include the following: (i) a fee for staff time required to provide access to or furnish a copy of a public record; (ii) a fee for time spent by a professional employee—such as an attorney, accountant, or computer specialist—researching an issue related to a public records request; and (iii) a third party’s charges when an official custodian determines help from a third party is required to respond to a public records request. (C) A district court must set reasonable fees for copying or certifying any paper or writ, as required by K.S.A. 28-170(a). A district court may impose the fees established by the judicial administrator if no local rule establishes fees for that district court. (g) Debt and Restitution Collection Contract . The judicial administrator is authorized under K.S.A. 20-169 to enter into contracts to collect debts owed to courts or restitution owed under an order of restitution. A contract must provide for payment by the contracting agent to the judicial administrator for administrative costs of up to 3% of the debt and restitution collected. A contract must specify other terms and conditions appropriate to facilitate collections. The judicial administrator may establish procedures consistent with K.S.A. 20-169 for negotiating and executing contracts to collect court debts and restitution. [ History : Am effective May 19, 1980; Am. (e) effective February 25, 1982; Am. (i) effective July 1, 1982; Am. (e) effective July 1, 1983; Am. effective February 8, 1994; Am. (a), (c), (g), and (h) effective May 9, 2005; Restyled rule and amended effective July 1, 2012; Am. (h) effective May 5, 2014; Am. (i) effective July 23, 2015; Am. effective November 24, 2025 .]