How to Search Coffey County Court Records
Coffey County district court cases are searched through Kansas District Court CaseSearch, the statewide public access portal for Kansas district court records. The Fourth Judicial District also posts local court calendar material through its Court Calendar page. Those two tools serve different jobs. CaseSearch is the main case lookup route. The docket PDFs show scheduled hearings and selected public calendar fields for Coffey County matters.
The official Coffey County site links residents to the District Court and county departments from its public pages. The Coffey County department index is a useful starting point when a record is not strictly a district court case file, since county clerk, county attorney, sheriff, treasurer, and other offices maintain separate records. The screenshot below comes from that official department index.
The department index matters because court records, sheriff records, county commission records, and payment records are not held by one office. For court case files, begin with the court system. For law enforcement reports, jail booking data, or sheriff forms, use the sheriff's office channels.
- Open Kansas District Court CaseSearch and choose the public search path for district court cases.
- Search by case number, party name, business name, or citation when that field fits the case.
- Use the Fourth Judicial District docket PDFs when the question is about a hearing date or calendar setting.
- For divorce, visitation, support, and paternity matters, contact the Coffey County District Court clerk because the Fourth Judicial District says those case types are not shown online.
- Request certified copies from the Clerk of the District Court when the online result is not enough for filing, licensing, or legal use.
The CaseSearch page itself is the current public lookup route for Kansas district courts. The official portal is shown below from Kansas District Court CaseSearch.
Use the portal for public district court records, then use the local clerk or docket links when the case type, copy need, or calendar question calls for local help.
The Coffey County Court System
Kansas uses district courts as its general trial courts. Coffey County belongs to the Fourth Judicial District with Anderson, Franklin, and Osage counties. The Coffey County District Court is the primary trial court for state criminal, civil, domestic, probate, juvenile, small claims, and many traffic matters. Appeals from Kansas district courts usually go to the Kansas Court of Appeals, while the Kansas Supreme Court sets statewide court rules and handles selected direct appeals.
The official Fourth Judicial District material for Coffey County identifies the District Court location, clerk, judges, phone lines, fax, and office hours. It also shows the county's connection to the broader district. The Fourth Judicial District Coffey County page is the key official court contact source.
Municipal courts are narrower. Burlington Municipal Court handles city ordinance and municipal traffic matters, and Burlington links to an online municipal payment portal. State-law criminal charges, felony cases, probate cases, divorce cases, and most civil filings belong in District Court.
Case flow: Municipal Court for city ordinance matters › District Court for Kansas trial cases › Kansas Court of Appeals › Kansas Supreme Court.
| Court or Office | Coffey County Role | Common Records |
|---|---|---|
| District Court | General Kansas trial court in the Fourth Judicial District | Criminal, civil, domestic, probate, juvenile, traffic, small claims |
| Municipal Court | City ordinance and municipal traffic cases | City tickets, municipal payment records, ordinance cases |
| Kansas Court of Appeals | Main appellate route for district court appeals | Appellate dockets and decisions |
| U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas | Federal trial court for federal cases involving Coffey County | Federal civil and criminal dockets through PACER or public terminals |
Coffey County Courthouse Contacts
The Coffey County Courthouse is the main public access point for court records and county administrative records. District Court operates from Suite 102. The County Clerk is in Room 202, and the County Attorney is in Room 204. The Coffey County District Court clerk handles court case records, public access computer help, marriage license questions after online submission, probate files, divorce file requests, and court payments. The County Clerk handles county commission and administrative records, not district court case files.
The official Coffey County homepage lists the county address, county phone, and links to county offices, including District Court and the Sheriff's Department.
That homepage is useful when a record question starts outside the court system, such as county clerk records, sheriff records, or another county department.
Coffey County District Court
110 S. 6th, Suite 102
Burlington, KS 66839
620-364-8628
Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-12 p.m. and 1 p.m.-4 p.m.
Coffey County Clerk
110 S. 6th Street, Room 202
Burlington, KS 66839
620-364-2191
Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
Coffey County Attorney
110 S. 6th Street, Room 204
Burlington, KS 66839
620-364-5111
Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-12 p.m. and 1 p.m.-5 p.m.
Coffey County Court Record Types
Coffey County court records include more than one kind of file. Criminal records track felony and misdemeanor cases after the County Attorney files a complaint or other charging paper. Civil records include Chapter 60 matters and small claims. Domestic records include divorce, visitation, support, and paternity files, but the Fourth Judicial District says those case types are not available through online searches. Probate records are handled in District Court because Coffey County has no separate probate court.
Traffic matters can split by issuing court. District Court handles state-law traffic cases and accepts payments through the district court payment routes. Burlington Municipal Court handles city ordinance and municipal traffic matters. Jail booking records are a sheriff record, while filed charges and dispositions are court records. That split is important when comparing inmate data to court case data.
- Criminal court records list charges, appearances, pleas, motions, dispositions, sentencing, and probation events.
- Civil court records include Chapter 60 civil cases, judgments, small claims, garnishments, and related filings.
- Domestic records include divorce, support, visitation, and paternity files requested at local courthouses.
- Probate records cover estates, wills, guardianships, conservatorships, and older indexed Coffey probate files.
- Traffic court records show citations, court dates, pleas, fines, and payment or failure-to-appear activity.
What Coffey County Court Records Show
Coffey County docket examples show party names, attorney names, prosecutor entries, judge names, hearing dates, hearing times, case numbers, hearing types, and notes. Observed case number formats include CF-2024-CR-000095, CF-2026-CR-000030, 2018-TR-000190, and 2019-CR-000073. A docket is not the whole file. It is a list of events and settings. The full court record may include pleadings, orders, judgments, payment entries, and documents allowed for public access.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Case Number | The court's identifier, often including county or case-type codes and a year. |
| Caption | The case name, such as State of Kansas versus a defendant in a criminal matter. |
| Parties and Roles | Prosecutor, defendant, plaintiff, respondent, petitioner, attorney, or other connection. |
| Hearing Information | Date, time, judge, hearing type, and calendar notes. |
| Disposition | The result or major outcome of a case, charge, motion, or hearing. |
| Sentence or Judgment | Punishment, probation, fine, civil judgment, or other final court action when public. |
Coffey County Court Dockets
The Fourth Judicial District calendar page gives Coffey County users a local way to check hearing information. The page says docket PDFs can be searched in Adobe by using Ctrl+F or Edit > Find, then searching by party name, attorney name, judge name, case number, or date. The official source is the Fourth Judicial District Court Calendar page.
Docket PDFs are useful for hearing dates and court event labels, but they do not replace the case file. The docket examples found in research show arraignment, motion, disposition, review hearing, sentencing, waiver of preliminary hearing and plea, probation violation status, and expungement events.
Public Access Laws for Coffey County Court Records
Kansas public record access starts with the Kansas Open Records Act, but court case access also depends on Kansas Supreme Court rules and local clerk procedures. For Coffey County court records, the practical access channels are CaseSearch, the Fourth Judicial District docket/calendar PDFs, public access computers at district court, and direct clerk contact. Sheriff's records use a separate open-records request route.
Key Statutes and Rules:
K.S.A. 45-215 starts the Kansas Open Records Act and supports public inspection unless another law closes the record.
K.S.A. 45-221 lists records not required to be disclosed and supports redaction of closed data.
Kansas Supreme Court Rule 22 governs public electronic access to district and appellate court case records.
K.S.A. 38-2309 limits access and disclosure for juvenile court records.
Restricted Coffey County Court Records
Not every Coffey County court record is public online. The Fourth Judicial District states that online searches do not provide case information for divorce, visitation, support, and paternity cases. Juvenile offender and child-in-need-of-care files have separate Kansas access limits. Sealed and expunged cases are closed or limited by court order and statute. Mental health care-and-treatment matters are sensitive and should not be treated as ordinary public files.
Expungement does not mean every record is destroyed. K.S.A. 21-6614 covers many conviction, arrest, and diversion expungement paths, while K.S.A. 22-2410 covers certain arrest record expungements. A person seeking expungement in a Coffey County district court case generally files in the court where the case or arrest record belongs and identifies the charge, case number, disposition, sentence or diversion completion, and waiting period.
Coffey County Sheriff and Jail Records
Coffey County Sheriff Thomas Johnson's office maintains the sheriff website, jail roster, detention information, records request page, fee schedule, forms, registered offender links, and press releases. The sheriff site lists emergency 911, non-emergency 620-364-2123, jail 620-364-3199, fax 620-364-5758, and administrative office hours Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The sheriff site is separate from District Court, so jail bookings and court charges should be checked through the correct office.
The official sheriff homepage is available at the Coffey County Sheriff's Office website.
The sheriff roster may show a person booked on a warrant arrest or other charge, but it is not a full active-warrant database and it is not a final court disposition. For custody, bail, current charge, and case-number questions after booking, the sheriff research directs users to contact jail staff at 620-364-3199.
Coffey County Marriage Divorce Probate
Marriage licenses for Coffey County are handled through the Kansas courts online marriage-license process. After payment and submission, Fourth Judicial District clerk offices can answer status questions, and the Coffey County Clerk of the District Court phone is 620-364-8628. Older Coffey marriage and probate records prior to February 15, 2001, are indexed on the Fourth Judicial District old-record page.
The official old-record source is the Fourth Judicial District Old Marriage and Probate Records page.
Divorce, visitation, support, and paternity case information is not provided through online searches, according to the Fourth Judicial District. Those records must be obtained by visiting local courthouses. Probate is handled in the Probate Division of the District Court rather than a separate probate court.
- Executor
- The person named to carry out estate duties when a will or court order appoints one.
- Guardianship
- A court-supervised case involving care decisions for a person who needs legal protection.
- Conservatorship
- A court-supervised case involving property or money decisions for a protected person.
Coffey County Court Records Fees
Coffey County fee details vary by record type and office. The Fourth Judicial District old marriage and probate page gives exact copy costs for old Coffey records. District court payments for Anderson, Coffey, Franklin, and Osage district courts may be made online, in person, or by mail to the Centralized Court Payment Center. The official payment source is the Fourth Judicial District Court Payments page.
Online payment is not the same as getting a certified copy. A payment portal can handle fines, fees, and costs, while copy certification still belongs with the clerk or the issuing office.
| Item | Amount or Requirement |
|---|---|
| Old probate or marriage photocopies prior to 2/15/01 | $0.25 per page |
| Probate certified copies on old-record page | $1.00 per certified document |
| Clerk time for old-record research or copying | $12.00 per hour |
| Small claims up to $500 | $47.50 filing fee |
| Small claims from $500.01 to $10,000 | $67.50 filing fee |
| Sheriff service with small claims | $15.00, separate check or money order to the county sheriff |
Coffey County Traffic Court Records
Traffic cases can be district court records or municipal court records. A state-law ticket may route to Coffey County District Court and use CaseSearch, the district court clerk, or the Centralized Court Payment Center. A city ordinance ticket may route to Burlington Municipal Court. Burlington lists Utility Billing and Municipal Court Clerk Lisa Birney at 620-364-5334, and public notices list municipal court on the second Thursday of each month at 5 p.m. at City Hall.
Court traffic records and driver records are not the same file. A court traffic record shows the citation, charge, court date, plea, disposition, fine, costs, payment status, and failure-to-appear activity. A Kansas driver record or license status record is held by the Kansas Department of Revenue and reached through KDOR online services or the Kansas.gov motor vehicle record portal.
Federal Courts Covering Coffey County
Coffey County is in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas, Fort Scott Division, for federal district court boundaries. Federal court records are not kept by the Coffey County District Court. They are accessed through PACER, CM/ECF, public terminals, or the federal clerk's office. The District of Kansas court records page says public terminals are available in Kansas City, Topeka, and Wichita and allows searches by case number, party name, or filing date range.
The federal records source is the official District of Kansas court records page.
Bankruptcy records for Coffey County residents or businesses are handled by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Kansas, not by the Coffey County clerk.
Coffey County Records Updates
Recent official materials show active changes in public safety and record access channels. On February 25, 2026, the sheriff announced a redesigned website with contact forms, crime tips with attachments, online forms, the inmate roster, press releases, a registered offender link, and responsive design. In June 2026, the sheriff announced Click It or Ticket statistics and an Excessive Speed Campaign. These updates are useful because sheriff website tools may be the current path for jail, records request, forms, and public safety information.
The Fourth Judicial District local rules were amended effective June 27, 2025, and the district continues to maintain local docket PDFs. For court filings, rules, and records, the District Court and Kansas Judicial Branch remain the controlling sources.
Coffey County Court Records FAQ
Can Coffey County Court records be searched online?
Many public district court records can be searched through Kansas District Court CaseSearch. Local hearing information may also appear in Fourth Judicial District docket PDFs. Divorce, visitation, support, and paternity case information is not provided through online searches and must be requested at local courthouses.
Who is the court records clerk in Coffey County?
The Fourth Judicial District identifies Emily Stephens as Clerk of the District Court for Coffey County. The court clerk office is at 110 S. 6th, Suite 102, Burlington, and the phone number is 620-364-8628.
Is the Coffey County inmate roster a warrant search?
No. The inmate roster may show people booked on warrant-arrest charges after arrest, but research did not find an official Coffey County active-warrant search page. Warrant questions should go to the issuing court or law enforcement agency.
Where are Coffey County divorce records found?
Divorce files are District Court records, but the Fourth Judicial District says online searches do not provide divorce, visitation, support, or paternity information. A requester should visit or call the Coffey County District Court clerk with party names, a case number if known, and the copy type needed.
What court handles Coffey County probate?
Probate is handled by the Probate Division of the District Court. Coffey County does not have a separate probate court. Older probate records prior to February 15, 2001, are indexed through the Fourth Judicial District old marriage and probate record page.
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