Chief justice releases Kansas Judicial Branch 2024 Annual Report

TOPEKA—Chief Justice Marla Luckert has released the Kansas Judicial Branch 2024 Annual Report she is submitting to the governor and members of the Kansas Legislature.

The report summarizes judicial branch accomplishments during 2024 and gives updates on four major projects:

• Cyberattack recovery. The court system’s recovery from an October 2023 cyberattack carried over into 2024. It involved rebuilding and strengthening information technology infrastructure, applying stronger protections to keep information secure, strengthening partnerships with county and state governments, and sharing lessons learned with court systems nationwide.

• Kansas eCourt case management system rollout. The judicial branch fulfilled a multiyear project to roll out a new case management system that centralizes case data on a single web-based platform. The Supreme Court and Court of Appeals began using the appellate version of the case management system in June. In November, Johnson County District Court joined all other district courts on the new system. Through this project, courts transformed how they serve the people of Kansas by standardizing processes, using workshare to complete work more efficiently, and by making most public case information searchable online.

• Kansas Child Welfare Summit. The first-ever Kansas Child Welfare Summit was a three-branch initiative designed to make lasting improvements for children and families navigating the child welfare system. It drew more than 700 participants and inspired other projects that seek to identify child welfare policy reforms, improve court process and legal advocacy in child protection cases, and pilot family treatment courts.

• Kansas Rural Justice Initiative Committee. The Rural Justice Initiative Committee presented its final report to the Supreme Court. It included 10 recommendations to counter the declining number of attorneys practicing in rural Kansas. Two recommendations involve a rural attorney training program and a tuition reimbursement program to encourage new attorneys to practice in rural areas following law school.

The 2024 Annual Report also gives an overview of operational changes in the Office of Judicial Administration that allow the office to better support courts and also provide leadership on projects that fill emerging and future needs. The section also highlights projects designed to improve access to justice.

The report is a companion to the State of the Kansas Judiciary delivered by Luckert to a joint session of the Kansas House and Senate on January 15.