Ellis County Clerk Records Office
The primary clerk for Ellis County court records is the Clerk of the District Court. Kansas does not route these trial court files through a separate county court clerk for Ellis County District Court record access. The clerk structure for Ellis County District Court covers the record of proceedings in the 23rd Judicial District, including filings, docket entries, judgments, orders, payments, marriage license processing, probate matters, and traffic cases that are filed in District Court.
Official 23rd Judicial District material describes the clerk's work as creating and maintaining an accurate, durable record of District Court proceedings and serving judges, the legal community, and the public. Current official sources identify Kayla Acosta as Clerk of the District Court. The Ellis court page also lists trial court clerks Emily Bloom, Primrose Hockersmith, Brandon Tippy, Toni Jensen, and Madi Peterson.
Ellis County Clerk of the District Court
Clerk: Kayla Acosta
107 W. 12th Street
Hays, KS 67601
785-628-9415
Fax: 785-628-8415
Email: Ellis_County_Clerk@kscourts.gov
Office hours: 8 a.m.-noon and 1 p.m.-5 p.m.; closed to the public at 4:30 p.m.
Ellis County Clerk Court Records
The Clerk of the District Court is the records hub for a wide set of Ellis County District Court files. The official District Court page lists adoption, care and treatment, child support, civil, criminal, domestic relations, fish and game citations, juvenile, limited civil, marriage licenses, court costs, fines, fees, probate, small claims, and traffic tickets. That range matters because a user looking for a probate filing, a divorce decree, a criminal disposition, or a District Court traffic case will often start with the same clerk office.
The clerk does not replace Hays Municipal Court for city ordinance records, and it does not issue KDHE vital certificates. Hays Police citations are handled by Hays Municipal Court, while Kansas Highway Patrol and Ellis County Sheriff's Office citations route to District Court. Divorce decrees come from the Clerk of the District Court where the divorce was filed, but KDHE issues divorce certificates with basic facts. Marriage certificate copies are also handled by KDHE after the completed license reaches the state vital records office.
The 23rd Judicial District clerk page is the source for the clerk's record categories. The list helps separate court filings from police reports, jail records, and statewide vital records.
The Ellis County courthouse security page explains the courthouse screening rules that affect in-person District Court record access.
Security screening is part of in-person clerk access at the courthouse, so record users should allow time before visiting the counter or public terminal.
Request Ellis County Clerk Records
Ellis County District Court records can be approached through several channels. Public case information is searched online through Kansas CaseSearch. If a public court record is not available online, Kansas Judicial Branch material says it should be available at the courthouse, where each courthouse has a computer reserved for public access. Copies, certified copies, older files, sealed-record questions, and documents not visible online should be handled through the clerk.
- Search by case number in Kansas CaseSearch when the number is known. Official instructions say compact formats such as 2019CV25 can be used.
- Search by person or business name when the case number is not known. A name or case number is required for the search.
- Use case type or case status filters when the portal presents them. Live dropdown values were not captured in the research pass.
- Contact the clerk by phone or email if the public record is missing online, if a certified copy is needed, or if the file may be older or restricted.
- Use the courthouse public terminal for public District Court records that are legally public but not available through the online search.
Kansas Judicial Branch request guidance also explains the Kansas Open Records Act timing for court-record requests. Requests under KORA are acted on by the end of the third business day after receipt unless more time is needed.
Ellis County Certified Copies
A certified copy is a clerk-issued copy that carries official verification from the court. It may be needed for legal filings, name changes, benefits, property matters, probate administration, divorce proof, or another agency process. A plain online view or printout is not the same as a certified court copy. The clerk should be given enough detail to locate the file and identify the exact document requested.
- Identify the court file. Use the case number if known, or provide full party names, case type, and an approximate filing date.
- State the exact document needed. Examples include a journal entry, divorce decree, probate order, disposition, judgment, or docket entry.
- Ask whether a certified copy, plain copy, or record search is needed. Certified copies may require clerk review and payment before release.
- Submit the request by the clerk's published phone, email, mail, or counter channel and wait for fee and delivery instructions.
- Confirm whether the record is public, sealed, restricted, or available only at the courthouse terminal before relying on online results.
Certified copies must come from the issuing court clerk or vital records office; a CaseSearch screen is not a certified document.
Ellis County Clerk Request Fields
Ellis County official sources do not publish a separate District Court records request form with a field inventory. A strong request should still mirror the details Kansas CaseSearch and court staff use to locate a case. For municipal ordinance files, Hays publishes a separate Municipal Court document request form, but that form is for Hays Municipal Court records rather than District Court files.
| Request Detail | Required | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Case number | Best if known | Lets the clerk locate the file without relying on name matches. |
| Party names | Yes if no case number | Needed for name search and identity matching. |
| Case type | Helpful | Separates civil, criminal, domestic, probate, juvenile, traffic, and small claims records. |
| Document requested | Yes | Clarifies whether the request is for a decree, order, disposition, filing, or full docket. |
| Copy type | Yes | Plain copies, certified copies, and search-only requests may be processed differently. |
| Requester contact | Yes | Lets the clerk send fee, pickup, mail, or restriction information. |
The Ellis County history page gives local county-seat context for Hays, where the District Court clerk now handles the courthouse record counter.
Local history does not change the request rules, but it explains why most Ellis County court record business centers on Hays.
Ellis County Clerk Fees
The research file located official fee amounts for several District Court services, especially marriage and probate categories. It did not locate a complete Ellis County plain-copy or certified-copy fee table. For copy charges, requesters should ask the Clerk of the District Court for the current amount before sending payment. K.S.A. 45-218 and K.S.A. 45-219 allow public agencies to address inspection, copies, and fee handling under Kansas public-records law.
| Item | Amount or Note |
|---|---|
| Marriage license | $85.50 |
| Marriage license credit or debit card fee | $2.14 |
| Probate of estate or will | $131.50 |
| Filing will and affidavit | $70.50 |
| Determination of descent | $71.50 |
| Conservatorship or guardianship | $91.50 |
| Certified marriage or divorce certificate from KDHE | $20 per certified copy |
Copy and certification fees can depend on document type, page count, certification, delivery, and whether a search is needed. The 23rd Judicial District fee schedule is the official source for listed filing fees.
Ellis County Clerk Forms
Many Ellis County court form needs are served by statewide Kansas resources rather than a county-only download page. The Kansas Judicial Council legal forms include categories such as divorce, probate, small estate, protection orders, child in need of care, and juvenile forms. Marriage license applications use the Kansas Judicial Branch electronic process, not an in-person paper application at the District Court clerk counter.
- Kansas Judicial Council probate forms can support estate, guardianship, conservatorship, and small-estate matters.
- Divorce forms may help self-represented parties when the form set fits the case.
- Marriage license applications are submitted electronically through the Kansas Judicial Branch process.
- Hays Municipal Court document requests use the city's separate municipal court request form.
The Ellis County transportation page notes the county's main travel routes, including Interstate 70 and U.S. 183, which are useful planning context for courthouse visits.
Travel planning is practical for filings because courthouse entry, clerk hours, and document processing are all tied to the Hays courthouse location.
Ellis County Clerk Record Limits
Public access does not mean every clerk record is online or open to every requester. Kansas public access is shaped by KORA, Kansas Supreme Court rules, sealing orders, and statutes that protect sensitive case types. Juvenile, adoption, care and treatment, mental-health, sealed, expunged, and protected personal identifier information may be restricted or redacted. A case may also be public as a file at the courthouse while a particular document is not available through CaseSearch.
Kansas Supreme Court Rule 106B and Rule 22 address public access to electronic district court case records. K.S.A. 45-221 lists categories agencies are not required to disclose, including records restricted by law or court rule. For Ellis County clerk records, the practical path is to search CaseSearch first, use the courthouse terminal when needed, and ask the Clerk of the District Court about copy status and restrictions.
The Ellis County parks and amenities page reflects the broader local government setting around Hays and Ellis County public offices.
Those local government pages are not court record portals, but they help identify the county context for official Ellis County offices.
Note: Records sealed by law or court order are not made public just because a name appears in a search result.