Search Ellis County District Court

Ellis County District Court Overview

Kansas district courts are the state's trial courts with general original jurisdiction over civil and criminal cases. K.S.A. 20-301 also describes a district court in each county as a court of record with general original jurisdiction unless another law provides otherwise. For Ellis County, that means District Court is the core court for felony and misdemeanor criminal cases, most civil filings, domestic relations, probate, juvenile, limited civil, small claims, traffic, fish and game, adoption, care and treatment, and child support records.

Ellis County belongs to the 23rd Judicial District with Gove, Rooks, and Trego counties. The official judge list for the district includes Hon. Curtis Brown, Chief Judge; Hon. Tom Drees, District Judge; and magistrate judges Hon. Douglas Bigge, Hon. Brendon Boone, and Hon. Richard Hanks. The Ellis County court location is the working courthouse for the district judge, clerk, court administration, court services, and related court-facing offices.

Ellis County District Court Location

Ellis County does not have a list of separately numbered district courts like some larger states. The local District Court operates through the 23rd Judicial District at the Ellis County Courthouse in Hays. The table below uses the required court-list format, but the local fact pattern is a single county District Court location with divisions and case categories handled through that court and its clerk.

The Kansas Supreme Court Rule 22 page is one of the state sources that frames access to public electronic district and appellate case records.

Electronic access rules matter because a public District Court case may still have documents or details that are limited online.

Ellis County Court Hierarchy

The court hierarchy places Ellis County District Court below the statewide appellate courts and above the lower municipal court for city ordinance matters. Appeals from Kansas district courts generally go to the Kansas Court of Appeals unless a direct Kansas Supreme Court path applies. Federal court cases are separate and are not filed in Ellis County District Court or searched in Kansas CaseSearch.

District Court vs Municipal Court

Ellis County District Court and Hays Municipal Court serve different case paths. District Court is the Kansas trial court for county-level and state-law case records. Hays Municipal Court handles City of Hays ordinance violations, including municipal traffic, criminal, and code cases. Felonies, domestic battery, and most juvenile matters route to District Court rather than municipal court.

For filed district case records, the Ellis County Clerk of the District Court is the local court records office.

Ellis County District Case Flow

A case moves through the Ellis County District Court system based on case type. A criminal case begins after a charging document is filed and moves through first appearance, arraignment, hearings, plea or trial, disposition, and sentencing. A civil case starts when a petition or complaint is filed, then continues through service, answer, motions, possible discovery, hearing or trial, judgment, and post-judgment steps. Probate, domestic, juvenile, and traffic matters have their own local timing and filing requirements.

Criminal flow: Charges Filed › First Appearance › Arraignment › Pretrial Hearings › Plea or Trial › Disposition › Sentencing › Appeal

Civil flow: Petition Filed › Service › Answer › Motions › Hearing or Trial › Judgment › Collection or Appeal

Traffic split: Ticket Issued › Court Named on Ticket › Payment, Contest, Diversion, or Hearing › Possible Suspension or Warrant if ignored

Note: The ticket itself identifies which court, address, and phone number apply to a traffic case.

Ellis County District Court Divisions

The Ellis County District Court record categories are broad because Kansas District Court is not split into a separate county court, family court, probate court, or traffic court for Ellis County trial court records. The clerk's record categories include civil, criminal, domestic relations, juvenile, probate, limited civil, small claims, traffic, fish and game, adoption, care and treatment, child support, marriage licenses, and payments for costs, fines, and fees.

Civil and small claims records can include petitions, answers, motions, orders, judgments, garnishments, liens, limited-action filings, and small claims. Criminal court records can include complaints or informations, bond orders, arraignment entries, plea documents, hearing notices, dispositions, sentencing journal entries, probation or community corrections orders, fines, costs, and restitution. Probate records may include wills, petitions, estate administration, guardianships, conservatorships, inventories, accountings, orders, and final distributions.

Ellis County District Court Records

District Court public case information is searched through Kansas CaseSearch. The 23rd Judicial District record-search page sends users to Kansas Judicial Branch district court records information, and the old public portal has been replaced by CaseSearch. A user may search by case number or name, then narrow by available case type or status filters. If a public record is not online, Kansas Judicial Branch materials point to courthouse access as the fallback.

Typical District Court information can include case number, case type, filing date, party names, attorney names, assigned judge, events or docket entries, hearing dates, disposition, orders, and financial obligations. Public access is not the same as full document access. Redactions, sealing orders, juvenile restrictions, adoption restrictions, medical or mental-health protections, expungement, and electronic-access rules may limit what appears online.

The Ellis County court records page gives a closer search walkthrough for case files and court-record access channels.

Ellis County District Courthouse

The Ellis County District Court is at 107 W. 12th Street in Hays. The court page lists phone 785-628-9415, fax 785-628-8415, and email Ellis_County_Clerk@kscourts.gov. General office hours are 8 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., with the office closed to the public at 4:30 p.m. Court Administration shares the courthouse address and phone, while Court Services uses phone 785-628-9419.

Courthouse access includes security screening. Ellis County states that everyone entering the courthouse is subject to screening, with briefcases, purses, and packages screened. The Sheriff's Office provides courthouse deputies and uses metal detector and x-ray screening. A valid state-issued photo ID is required. Weapons, cameras, recording devices, laptops, music devices, and tablets are barred. Visitors should allow extra time before hearings or clerk-counter visits.

Federal Courts Near Ellis County

Federal cases are outside Ellis County District Court. Federal civil, criminal, constitutional, and federal statutory matters arising in Kansas are handled by the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas. Federal bankruptcy cases are handled by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Kansas. Appeals from the federal district court go to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas is the starting point for federal trial court information in Kansas.

Federal records should not be requested from the Ellis County District Court clerk because they are filed in federal systems.

The District of Kansas court locations page lists federal courthouse locations elsewhere in Kansas.

No federal courthouse physically located in Ellis County was found in the official sources reviewed.

The District of Kansas CM/ECF system is a federal electronic filing and docket system, separate from Kansas CaseSearch.

CM/ECF is relevant only when the case is a federal District of Kansas case, not an Ellis County District Court case.

The PACER lookup for the District of Kansas identifies the federal court for national PACER access.

PACER is the federal search path when a record is not in the state District Court system.

The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals hears federal appeals from Kansas federal district cases.

State District Court appeals and federal appeals follow different court systems, even when both involve parties from Ellis County.