17 October 2023
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – The electronic filing system for the courts in the State of Kansas is down. It may be for a couple of weeks.
“So we’ve been asked to prepare to be in a paper-filed world for about two weeks,” said Jeff Goering, chief judge in Sedgwick County. “So it’s going to be slower, but we’re still open for business.”
The District Attorney for Sedgwick County says no cases will be in jeopardy. He says no electronic file system means a lot more work to go with the usual attention to detail.
“But the murder cases, the child in need of care cases, the rape cases, all the normal day-to-day business of the office will continue to function,” said DA Marc Bennett. “And we can do that. It will not be an insignificant outlay of time and expenses for us. But, we’ll do it.”
Bennett said he was meeting with at least half his staff on Monday to go over the details of paper filing.
The court’s electronic file system is called Odyssey. It’s a software system purchased by the State of Kansas recently for the electronic filing of information in all court cases throughout the state.
The Kansas Judicial Office mandated on Monday all electronic filing would have to be on hold for now. The courts will accept paper filing and, or fax filing.
Goering says people who want to file motions in pleadings or lawsuits can still do that. Just the old-fashioned way on paper.
“Well, there shouldn’t be any delays on the part of the court,” said Goering. “But we’ll get there.”
The court system has not so far confirmed what kind of a breach happened. But they offered another order on Monday to the court.
The Kansas Supreme Court issued Administrative Order 2023-CC-074 on Monday confirming clerk offices in the appellate courts and all district courts – except the court in Johnson County – remain unable to receive electronic filings at this time.