Open Record Request Procedures

Purpose

The goals of these procedures are to:

• Provide access to public records under control of the district court of Clay County, Kansas
• Protect court records from damage and disorganization
• Prevent excessive disruption of agency functions
• Provide assistance and information upon request
• Ensure effective and timely action in response to applications for inspection of public records

Hours of Inspection

The Office of the Clerk of the District Court shall be open for the inspection of public records Monday through Friday between the hours of 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., excluding holidays.

Access to Records

Records requests should be directed in writing to a custodian of the records. You may complete a records request form, the use of which is encouraged, but not required, in making such requests. The Clerk of the Court, Melissa Stellner, as official custodian of the district court records, has designated the following additional person to be custodians of the records for the purposes of the Open Records Act: Kristen Brownell or Amber Chaffee.

Fees

The fee to be paid for copies of any records shall be $0.25 per page and $1 per certification. In addition, for requests that require the concentrated attention of a custodian of the records, a fee in the amount of $12 per hour shall be paid by the requesting party. The custodian of records may require an estimate of these fees to be paid in advance. No District Court employee may conduct a search which requires making a legal determination.

File Check Out

All records or files checked out to court officers, abstracters, or members of the bar shall be in conformance with the procedures for checking out files so that the files and records can be protected and their location known. (See Supreme Court Rule 106).

Confidential Records

Under the Kansas Open Records Act, K.SA. 450221 et seq., certain records are confidential and are excepted from public examination. The disclosure of these records is specifically prohibited or restricted by federal law, state law, or Kansas Supreme Court Rule.

Confidential records include, but are not limited to, the following: