TOPEKA—The Kansas judicial branch has launched a new virtual self-help center for people involved in court cases who are not represented by an attorney.
The website, self-help.kscourts.gov, shares information, forms, and tools to help Kansans with district court processes.
“Our goal was to create a reliable electronic resource for people who are navigating the court system on their own,” said Sarah Hoskinson, chief of access to justice at the Office of Judicial Administration. “It’s to help people who don’t understand or aren’t familiar with court processes. It also helps district courts that serve people who come to court without an attorney.”
Benefits for court users
The virtual self-help center homepage has a “I need help with” section that features in-demand resources according to input from the legal community, district court clerks, and data from searches on the kscourts.gov website. Links connect visitors with court forms, where to pay a fine or fee, how to find a court hearing, where to conduct legal research, and more.
If someone needs information about a specific area of law, Hoskinson said the Topics section quickly connects them to key resources, including videos, forms, court timelines, and agencies.
“Bringing these key resources together gives Kansans a central source of information about court processes,” she said. “With general web searches, you must sift through results from many sources that may be out of date, inaccurate, or both.”
Efficiencies for district courts
The online self-help center also benefits district courts, especially those in smaller, rural counties.
“Some district courts maintain their own self-help information, but only if they have staff to manage it,” Hoskinson said. “The statewide virtual self-help center may fill an unmet need for some district courts, while creating efficiencies for others.”
Nyla Rogers, clerk of the Lyon County District Court, said the center will help her court provide essential information and guidance to the public.
“The virtual self-help center video guides are great at helping the public learn the processes for their specific situations to help them file the appropriate court documents,” Rogers said.
Joni Wilson, court administrator in the 18th Judicial District (Sedgwick County), said the center supports both the public and court staff helping them.
“People can’t always take time off work to visit the courthouse to get help with their case,” Wilson said. “The center allows our court to help the public no matter the time of day or day of the week.”
Building the site
Hoskinson said her team gathered information and resources from the Supreme Court Access to Justice Committee and the judges and court employees who serve as local access to justice liaisons in every judicial district.
She said committee members and court liaisons used their experience with access to justice issues to organize the resources and identify areas that needed updates or new resources.
Based on that work, the Information Services team in the Office of Judicial Administration designed and built the online self-help center.
“We shared the first version of the virtual self-help center with others in the legal community, district court staff, and key Supreme Court committees to get their feedback,” Hoskinson said. “Their knowledge and experience in the different topical areas helped us refine and organize the content.”
Chief Judge Kevin Berens of the 15th Judicial District (Cheyenne, Logan, Rawlins, Sheridan, Sherman, Thomas, and Wallace counties) chairs the Access to Justice Committee. He noted that publishing the online self-help center has long been a committee goal.
“The committee discussed the need for this resource for some time. The Office of Judicial Administration Information Services team helped us turn that vision into reality. It is a practical and important resource for self-represented parties and other court users,” Berens said.
Berens also credits support from the Supreme Court Rural Justice Initiative Committee, Ad Hoc Committee on Best Practices for Eviction Proceedings, Advisory Council on Dispute Resolution, and Language Access Committee.
“This was a collaborative effort among many members in our legal community, and, with their continued help, we hope to improve this resource in the coming years,” he said.