Court Records

The records created by county, municipal, and district courts can be extremely valuable for genealogists, social historians, and other researchers. Prior to 1977 the court system in Kansas included a probate court and a district court. The probate court had jurisdiction over marriages, town incorporations, estates, wills, adoptions, insanities, delinquent and dependent children, and similar matters within the county. The district court handled major civil and criminal cases, naturalizations, divorces, monetary claims within a particular boundary (usually one or more counties), and similar matters.

Generally, most cases involving serious criminal offenses or large monetary amounts were heard by the district court. Misdemeanor, small claims, and traffic offenses were tried at the municipal or township levels. There were also a number of other short-lived or related courts with specific responsibilities including criminal courts, circuit courts, traffic courts, juvenile courts, and appeal courts. In 1977 the state of Kansas simplified the court system so that most court divisions fell under the umbrella title of District Court.

In addition to county courts, communities had city or municipal courts that handled cases such as traffic violations, monetary claims to a specific dollar amount, and misdemeanor criminal cases. Sometimes these courts had jurisdiction over the entire township, which encompassed a city or town. In a township where no major community existed, a justice of the peace usually enforced the law, handling cases of a limited nature.

The Local Government Records Guide, which is available in (.pdf) format (Adobe Acrobat), contains a detailed listing of types of court records.