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Rule 21

Rule 21: Definitions

Section Kansas eCourt
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(a)   “Attachment” means a document efiled simultaneously with a pleading that is referenced within the pleading as support for the filing user’s statement of facts or legal argument.

(b)   “Business hours” means the hours of the day the court is open to the public to conduct court-related business.

(c)   “Case management system” means the Kansas judicial branch system to receive, maintain, and store electronic case records in an internet, browser-based format.

(d)   “Case record” means all electronic documents filed in a case. Each document in a case record must either be certified by the filer as compliant with Rule 24 or be filed under Rule 23(b).

(e)   “Certification” means that an attorney or a party if not represented by an attorney certifies that, to the best of the person’s knowledge, the document being submitted for filing complies with requirements of K.S.A. 60-211(b).

(f)   “Citation” means:

(1)   a Uniform Notice to Appear and Complaint issued by a law enforcement officer to a person alleged to have violated any of the statutes, rules, or regulations listed in, or authorized by, K.S.A. 8-2106 when signed by the officer and filed with a court having jurisdiction over the alleged offense;

(2)   an electronic citation as that term is defined by K.S.A. 8-2119; and

(3)   a citation, as defined by K.S.A. 32-1049a(b), by a conservation officer or employee of the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks, and Tourism having law enforcement authority as described in K.S.A. 32-808 to a person alleged to have violated any of the wildlife, parks, or tourism statutes, rules, or regulations listed in, or authorized by, K.S.A. 32-1049(a) when signed by the officer or employee and filed with a court having jurisdiction.

(g)   “Courthouse terminal” means a computer terminal available to the public to access public case records at a courthouse. The courthouse terminal may be in a kiosk.

(h)   “Efiling” means the submission of a document through the use of either an approved district court electronic filing system as defined in Rule 122 or the appellate courts’ electronic filing system as mandated by Rule 1.14.

(i)   “Efiling interface” means the contact point where a filing user submits an electronic document.

(j)   “Electronic access” means access to case records available to the public through a courthouse terminal or remotely through the public access portal, unless otherwise specified in these rules.

(k)   “Events index” means items listed in a chronological index of filings, actions, and events in a specific case, which may include identifying information of the parties and counsel; a brief description or summary of the filings, actions, and events; and other case information. The events index, also referred to as the register of actions, is a record created and maintained by the judicial branch only for administrative purposes that is not part of the case record. The events index must comply with Rule 24.

(l)   “Filing user” means any individual who is authorized to submit a document through the Kansas Court eFiling System. This term does not include the following individuals when acting in their official capacity:

(1)   an employee of the Kansas judicial branch;

(2)   a judge of the district court as defined by K.S.A. 20-301a;

(3)   a temporary judge assigned as described by K.S.A. 20-310b(a); or any retired justice of the Supreme Court, retired judge of the Court of Appeals, or retired judge of the district court assigned as described by K.S.A. 20-2616;

(4)   a retired justice of the Supreme Court, a retired judge of the Court of Appeals, or a retired judge of the district court who has entered into a written agreement with the Supreme Court under K.S.A. 20-2622;

(5)   a judge of the Court of Appeals as described by K.S.A. 20-3002(d); and

(6)   a justice of the Supreme Court as described by Kansas Constitution, article 3, section 2.

(m)   “Judicial branch” means the judicial branch of government, which includes all district and appellate courts, judicial officers, offices of the clerks of the district and appellate courts, the Office of Judicial Administration, court services offices, and judicial branch employees.

(n)   “Kansas Court eFiling System” means the Kansas Court Electronic Filing System that the Kansas Supreme Court has approved for use to submit documents in an electronic format to the case management system for Kansas district and appellate courts. The Kansas Court eFiling System (also referred to as the efiling system) provides a means to view case histories, check the status of submissions, send follow-up documents, and access service lists.

(o)   “Nondocketable event” means a note, bench note, memorandum, draft, worksheet, or work product of a justice, judge, or court personnel that does not record court action taken in a case.

(p)   “Nonpublic case record” means any case record that is sealed or made confidential by statute, caselaw, Supreme Court rule, or court order.

(q)   “Public” means any person, business, nonprofit entity, organization, association, and member of the media.

(r)   “Public access portal” means an internet, browser-based access point for the public to freely and conveniently access certain public case records. At the discretion of the Kansas judicial branch, the public access portal may require user registration, email or identity verification, or other protocol and may restrict bulk record access.

(s)   “Public case record” means any case record that is not sealed or made confidential by statute, caselaw, Supreme Court rule, or court order.

(t)   “Sealed” means a case type or document to which access is limited by statute, Supreme Court rule, or court order.

(u)   “Standard operating procedures” means those procedures adopted by the judicial administrator, with input from stakeholders, that ensure documents submitted electronically are processed efficiently, increase effectiveness of court operations, and enhance access to justice for the people of Kansas.

(v)   “Transcript” means any written verbatim record of a court proceeding or deposition taken in accordance with the rules of civil or criminal procedure.

(w)   “Trial exhibit” means a document or object introduced or admitted into evidence in a court proceeding.
 
[History: New rule adopted effective June 14, 2019; Am. effective June 12, 2020; Am. effective July 1, 2024.]

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