Coffey County Court Docket Basics
A docket is the court's running list of case activity or scheduled events. For Coffey County, the most useful public docket source is the Fourth Judicial District court calendar page, which provides county and judge docket PDFs. Those PDFs can show who is due in court, when the hearing is set, the case number, the judge, the attorney names, and the hearing type. They do not show every pleading, exhibit, or sealed filing in the case file.
Coffey County belongs to the Fourth Judicial District with Anderson, Franklin, and Osage counties. The Coffey District Court is the trial court for state-law criminal, civil, probate, domestic, juvenile, small claims, and many traffic matters. Municipal Court is separate and may handle city ordinance violations or local traffic tickets. If a case began as a Burlington city matter, the city court calendar or clerk may be the better route than a district docket PDF.
The Kansas Judicial Branch CaseSearch launch announcement explains the current public district court search system.
That state-level update explains why district court docket and case access now points users toward the Kansas public portal.
Find Coffey County Court Dockets Online
The Fourth Judicial District court calendar page is the local online route for Coffey County docket PDFs. The research captured instructions for opening a docket in Adobe and searching inside the PDF with Ctrl+F or Edit > Find. Search terms can include a party name, attorney name, judge name, case number, or date. This is helpful when a long calendar includes many cases.
- Open the Fourth Judicial District court calendar page and choose the Coffey County docket or the listed judge docket.
- Open the PDF in a viewer that supports text search, then use Ctrl+F or Edit > Find.
- Search by party name, attorney name, judge name, case number, or hearing date.
- Read the hearing time, hearing type, judge, attorney, and case number together before relying on the result.
- Call the Clerk of the District Court if a setting seems missing, changed, sealed, or tied to a domestic case that is not online.
Kansas CaseSearch can also help when the question is about the case history rather than one calendar setting. A public user can search by case number, party name, business name, or citation when the case is open to public electronic access. The calendar PDF is still the better first check for a daily hearing list.
Coffey County Docket Entry Fields
The research file inspected a Fourth Judicial District Coffey docket PDF and captured a local sample field inventory. The visible fields focus on hearing logistics and party information. The docket PDF is public, but the underlying complaint, motion, order, or exhibit is not shown in the PDF itself. That distinction matters when someone needs proof of a disposition or a certified copy.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Party Caption | The case name or party pairing, such as a State of Kansas criminal caption. |
| Connection and Party Name | The role and name of a defendant, prosecutor, attorney, or other linked party. |
| Attorney Name | The listed lawyer for a party, including prosecutor or defense counsel where shown. |
| Judge | The judicial officer assigned to the setting, such as Wine, Taylor J. in observed examples. |
| Hearing Date and Time | When the matter is set on the Coffey County court calendar. |
| Case Number | Formats observed include CF-2024-CR-000095, CF-2026-CR-000030, 2018-TR-000190, and 2019-CR-000073. |
| Hearing Type | Arraignment, status, motion, disposition, review hearing, sentencing, waiver of prelim and plea, or expungement. |
| Notes or Comments | Short docket comments when the calendar includes them. |
Courts With Coffey County Dockets
The Coffey County District Court is the main source for district court dockets. The Fourth Judicial District page identifies Coffey County's courthouse location and local judicial officers. Chief Judge Taylor Wine is listed as hearing domestic, criminal, and probate matters in Coffey County on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. District Judge Eric W. Godderz is listed for Chapter 60 civil cases, and Magistrate Judge Kara L. Reynolds is listed with the Coffey clerk phone.
- Coffey County District Court handles state trial-level criminal, civil, probate, domestic, juvenile, small claims, and district traffic dockets.
- Burlington Municipal Court handles city ordinance and municipal traffic matters through City Hall and its municipal court clerk.
- The Kansas Court of Appeals receives many district court appeals unless a case goes directly to the Kansas Supreme Court.
- The U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas is separate and does not publish Coffey County District Court calendars.
For fee and filing context tied to court activity, use the Kansas Courts self-help fee page.
Filing fees do not prove a hearing date, but they help explain why docket activity may be linked to new filings or post-judgment requests.
Coffey County Dockets vs Case Files
A docket and a case file answer different questions. A docket can tell a person that a hearing is set, what type of event is scheduled, and which case number to use when asking the clerk for help. A full case file may include the complaint, information, motions, orders, judgment, sentencing documents, financial entries, and other pleadings. A person checking a criminal setting may need both the docket and the full Coffey County criminal court records file to understand the outcome.
| Comparison Point | Docket | Full Case Record |
|---|---|---|
| Format | Calendar or event list | Case file with entries and documents where public |
| Best Use | Confirm hearing time, judge, case number, and event type | Review pleadings, disposition, sentence, judgment, or certified copies |
| Online Access | Fourth Judicial District PDFs and some CaseSearch event data | CaseSearch plus courthouse access, subject to restrictions |
| Limits | Does not show all underlying documents | Some files or documents are sealed, confidential, or not online |
Note: A docket can change after publication, so confirm time-sensitive hearings with the clerk before travel.
Read Coffey County Court Dockets
Start with the case number and the hearing type. Coffey County examples include criminal and traffic formats, so the letters and numbers can give useful clues about the matter. A CR-style case is not the same as a TR-style traffic case. The hearing type then explains what is likely happening that day. Arraignment is an early criminal setting. Disposition may mark an outcome or plea. Sentencing follows a conviction or plea. Review hearings and probation violation settings may occur after the main case has already produced an order.
Party roles also matter. The prosecutor may appear as the State of Kansas Attorney's Office, Coffey County. A defendant may have a listed attorney, or a party may appear without one depending on the case type. If the docket shows a judge name, compare that with the Fourth Judicial District court information. Judge names are useful search terms inside PDFs and help distinguish Coffey settings from other counties in the same district.
- Arraignment
- A hearing where a criminal charge is addressed and a plea may be entered.
- Disposition
- A major outcome entry, often tied to a plea, dismissal, judgment, or other result.
- Motion
- A request asking the judge to take action in a pending case.
- Expungement
- A proceeding that may restrict public access to a qualified record.
Coffey County Docket Limits
Online Coffey County court dockets do not replace courthouse verification. The Fourth Judicial District says divorce, visitation, support, and paternity case information is not provided through online searches and can only be obtained by visiting local courthouses. Juvenile, sealed, expunged, adoption, and care-and-treatment records may also be restricted. A docket PDF may omit information that is closed by Kansas law or court rule.
Court dockets also are not jail rosters, criminal history reports, or state prison location tools. The KDOC resident location FAQ serves a different purpose.
KDOC location data can help distinguish custody status from a Coffey County docket, but it does not show the local court calendar.
For district court docket questions, the Clerk of the District Court is the practical fallback. The Coffey County District Court is at 110 S. 6th, Suite 102, Burlington, KS 66839, phone 620-364-8628, with public hours Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.