Kansas Court Rules (2026)
Browse all 27 rule sets with 2852 rules, each with plain-English summaries and committee notes. Each rule includes the full text, a plain-English summary, committee notes, amendment history, and cross-references to related rules.
Kansas Court Rules & Rules of Practice
How this jurisdiction's courts and rules are organized, written for lawyers new to it: the court system, every ruleset a litigator touches, and how a case actually moves. Last verified September 24, 2026. For informational purposes only.
- Court System Overview
- The Ruleset Map
- Civil Litigation Mechanics
- Criminal Practice Mechanics
- Evidence
- Appellate Mechanics
- Rules of Professional Conduct
- Attorney Discipline & Enforcement
- Newcomer Orientation Notes
- Sources & Verification
Kansas Code of Civil Procedure
Chapter 60 of the Kansas Statutes Annotated is the state's code of civil procedure. Kansas has no separate rules of civil procedure; K.S.A. 60-201 provides that the article "may be cited as the rules of civil procedure." Beyond pleadings, process, discovery, trial and judgments, the chapter also carries much of the substantive law that governs civil actions in Kansas: limitations of actions, venue, attachment and garnishment, habeas corpus, wrongful death, exemptions, executions, protection from abuse and stalking, punitive damages, asset seizure and forfeiture, and professional liability. The rules of evidence are published separately as the Kansas Rules of Evidence.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseKansas Code of Criminal Procedure
Chapter 22 of the Kansas Statutes Annotated is the state's code of criminal procedure. Kansas has no separate rules of criminal procedure; this chapter is the procedural code, covering arrest and search, preliminary proceedings, complaints and informations, arraignment and pleas, pretrial motions, trial and juries, judgment and sentencing, probation and parole, appeals, habeas corpus, and post-conviction relief, together with the rights of victims and the appointment of counsel for indigent defendants.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseKansas Probate Code
Everything a Kansas district court does sitting in probate, 843 sections in 37 articles. K.S.A. 59-101: "This act is named and may be cited as the Kansas probate code." Article 22, Probate Procedure, is the procedural core — 59-2201 requires every application to be by verified petition, and provides that no defect in form shall impair substantial rights. The estate articles run from intestate succession and wills through letters testamentary, estates of nonresidents, bonds, inventory and appraisement, the classification and payment of demands, the management and sale of assets, accounting and distribution, and appeals. Guardianship and conservatorship is article 30, recodified by the 2025 legislature effective January 1, 2026 and cited in the comma form — 59-30,141 is the basis for appointing a guardian for an adult, 59-30,160 for a conservator — with the separate tracks for minors and adults, emergency and temporary appointments, the guardian's and conservator's plans and reports, protective arrangements as an alternative, and interstate transfer and registration. Adoption is article 21, including the consent provisions at 59-2129. Article 29 is care and treatment for persons with mental illness; article 29a the Kansas sexually violent predator act and the civil commitment of sexually violent predators; article 29b care and treatment for alcohol or substance abuse; and article 29c the crisis intervention act. Also here: the Kansas simplified estates act (article 32), the informal administration act (article 33), the uniform statutory rule against perpetuities, and transfer-on-death, where 59-3501 lets an interest in real estate be titled in TOD form by recording a deed. 226 sections are repealed or reserved and are published as such, which is what a 1939 code recodified many times over looks like; the three articles the Revisor itself flags "(Not in active use)" are not included.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseKansas Rules of Professional Conduct
The Kansas Rules of Professional Conduct, adopted by the Supreme Court of Kansas, governing the professional obligations of lawyers: the client-lawyer relationship, the lawyer as counselor and advocate, transactions with persons other than clients, law firms and associations, public service, information about legal services, and the maintenance of the integrity of the profession.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseKansas Code of Civil Procedure for Limited Actions
The volume practice of the Kansas district courts — collections, landlord-tenant, evictions — 103 sections in fourteen articles. K.S.A. 61-2801 names it: "This act shall be known and may be cited as the code of civil procedure for limited actions." Chapter 61 is the alternative to Chapter 60, and 61-2802 sets out what may be brought under it: a debt arising out of a contract for goods, services or money, secured or unsecured, and the other claims listed there. What makes it the limited track is discovery — up to ten interrogatories and ten requests for admission as of right under 61-3103 and 61-3101, but a deposition only on a motion granted by the court under 61-3105. The articles follow a case through: prefatory provisions, pleadings, process, discovery, pretrial and trial, judgment, venue, attachment and garnishment, executions, replevin and foreclosure of secured interests, evictions, appeals, costs and general provisions. Chapter 61's first 26 articles are every one flagged "(Not in active use)" by the Revisor — 270 sections of superseded procedure — and are not included.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseKansas Rules of Evidence
Article 4 of Chapter 60 of the Kansas Statutes Annotated is the Kansas Rules of Evidence, running from K.S.A. 60-401 to 60-485. It governs the admissibility of evidence in Kansas courts: relevance and its limits, privileges, witness competency and examination, opinion and expert testimony, hearsay and its exceptions, authentication, and judicial notice. Kansas codifies its evidence rules by statute rather than promulgating them as court rules.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseKansas Rules Relating to District Courts
The Supreme Court of Kansas rules governing practice in the district courts: general and administrative provisions, the commencement of actions and pleadings, motions, discovery and pretrial procedure, trials, post-trial matters, and specialty courts.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseRevised Kansas Code for Care of Children
Kansas child-in-need-of-care practice, 104 sections. 38-2201 gives the citation, the construction of the code and the policy of the state; 38-2203 the jurisdiction, including the application of the Indian Child Welfare Act. 38-2205 provides the right to counsel and the guardian ad litem. A case runs from 38-2231 and 38-2232, when a law enforcement or court services officer shall take a child into custody and what the officer must then do, through ex parte orders of protective custody at 38-2242 and orders of temporary custody at 38-2243, to adjudication at 38-2251 and the dispositional hearing at 38-2253. Permanency is the spine of the rest: planning at disposition (38-2257), permanency planning (38-2263) and the permanency hearing (38-2264), the request for termination of parental rights or appointment of a permanent custodian (38-2266), the factors to be considered in terminating parental rights (38-2269), custody for adoption (38-2270), and the appointment of a permanent custodian or establishment of SOUL family legal permanency (38-2272, 38-2272a). Also here: changes of placement and emergency changes, qualified residential treatment program placement, the prohibition on detaining a child in jail at 38-2276, child support, and appeals at 38-2273. This is the CURRENT code; the superseded Kansas Code for Care of Children in article 15 is not included.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseRevised Kansas Juvenile Justice Code
How Kansas prosecutes and sentences a juvenile offender, 108 sections. 38-2301 gives the citation, the goals of the code and policy development; 38-2304 the jurisdiction and the presumption of age; 38-2306 the right to an attorney. Custody and detention come first — 38-2330 on when a juvenile may be taken into custody, 38-2331 on the criteria for detention in a detention facility, 38-2332 on the prohibition against placing or detaining a juvenile in jail, and the detention hearing at 38-2343. 38-2347 is the prosecution-as-an-adult provision and the extended jurisdiction juvenile prosecution, with its burden of proof. Adjudication is at 38-2356, and sentencing is the largest part of the code: the alternatives at 38-2361, the placement matrix at 38-2369 that sets the placement by the offense committed, departure sentences at 38-2371, computation of sentence, modification, violation of a condition of probation or placement, conditional release, and notification of pending release. Appeals run from 38-2380 for the juvenile and 38-2381 for the prosecution. Also here: community-based graduated responses for technical violations (38-2392), required training for those working with adjudicated juveniles, and the risk and needs assessment for juveniles in detention at 38-23,102. This is the CURRENT code; the superseded Kansas Juvenile Justice Code in article 16 is not included.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseKansas Code of Judicial Conduct
The Kansas Code of Judicial Conduct, adopted by the Supreme Court of Kansas, governing the conduct of judges: upholding the independence and impartiality of the judiciary, performing the duties of judicial office impartially and diligently, disqualification, conducting extrajudicial activities, and political and campaign activity.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseKansas Rules Relating to the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, and Appellate Practice
The Supreme Court of Kansas rules governing appellate practice: general and administrative provisions, initiation and docketing of an appeal, the record on appeal, interlocutory appeals, briefs, oral argument, decision and rehearing, transfer to and review by the Supreme Court, original actions, expedited appeals, and notice requirements.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseKansas Rules Relating to Discipline of Attorneys
The Supreme Court of Kansas rules governing attorney discipline: the Kansas Board for Discipline of Attorneys and its review committees, the Disciplinary Administrator, the investigation and prosecution of complaints, hearings and hearing panels, discipline by consent, reinstatement, and the Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseKansas Rules Relating to the State Board of Examiners of Court Reporters
The Supreme Court of Kansas rules governing certified shorthand reporters and the State Board of Examiners of Court Reporters: certification and examination, annual registration, suspension and revocation, the duties of official court reporters, electronic recordings and transcripts, and claims under the Indigent Criminal Defendants Act.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseKansas Rules Relating to Admission of Attorneys
The Supreme Court of Kansas rules governing admission to the Kansas bar: the Kansas Board of Law Examiners, the Admissions Attorney and Attorney Admissions Office, the Attorney Admissions Review Committee, confidentiality and immunity, application fees, eligibility, and the examination and admission process.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseKansas Rules Relating to Dispute Resolution
The Supreme Court of Kansas rules governing court-connected dispute resolution: the Office of Judicial Administration's dispute resolution program, the approval and training of mediators, mediator qualifications and conduct, confidentiality, and domestic and civil case mediation.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseKansas Rules Relating to Formal Proceedings and a Hearing Panel
The Supreme Court of Kansas rules governing formal proceedings before the Commission on Judicial Conduct and its hearing panels: the initiation of proceedings, notice and answer, discovery, hearings, the panel's findings and recommendations, and review by the Supreme Court.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseKansas Small Claims Procedure Act
The lawyer-free court, 15 sections. K.S.A. 61-2701 names it the "small claims procedure act" and 61-2702 places it: an alternative procedure for processing small claims that is "part of and supplemental to the code of civil procedure for limited actions." A small claim is capped at $10,000 by 61-2703, raised from $4,000 in 2024. The defining rule is 61-2707 — the trial is to the court, and except as provided in 61-2714 "no party in any such action shall be represented by an attorney prior to judgment," though a party may appear through a full-time employee or officer or another person in a representative capacity. Also here: how an action is commenced and served, counterclaims, the number of claims one plaintiff may file, and the appeal.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseKansas Rules Relating to Continuing Legal Education
The Supreme Court of Kansas rules requiring continuing legal education of Kansas lawyers: annual hour and ethics requirements, accreditation of programs and sponsors, reporting and fees, exemptions, and the consequences of noncompliance.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseKansas Rules Relating to Kansas eCourt
The Supreme Court of Kansas rules governing the statewide centralized case management system: definitions, public access to electronic district court and appellate case records, filing in a district or appellate court, the protection of personally identifiable information, and expanded access.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseKansas Rules Relating to Language Access
The Supreme Court of Kansas rules governing language access in Kansas courts: the Language Access Committee, language access coordinators for each judicial district, the Kansas Code of Professional Responsibility for Court Interpreters, the interpreter's acknowledgment and agreement, and court interpreter orientation.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseKansas Rules Relating to Required Continuing Judicial Education
The Supreme Court of Kansas rules on continuing judicial education: requirements for appellate and district judges and for municipal court judges, the Judicial Education Advisory Committee, and the District Magistrate Judges Certification Committee.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseKansas Rules Relating to Access to Justice
The Supreme Court of Kansas rules governing access to justice: the Access to Justice Committee, providing assistance to the public, access to justice liaisons, pro bono or low-cost direct legal services provided by retired, inactive or single-employer attorneys, and the Rural Justice Initiative Committee.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseKansas Rules Relating to Municipal Court
The Supreme Court of Kansas rules applicable to Kansas municipal courts: the Municipal Court Judges Education Committee, the Municipal Court Clerks Education Committee, municipal court reporting, and a district magistrate judge serving as a municipal judge.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseKansas Rules Relating to Committees
The Supreme Court of Kansas rules establishing its standing committees and task forces: the District Court Cybersecurity Steering Committee, the Child Support Guidelines Advisory Committee, the Advisory Council on Dispute Resolution, and the Supreme Court Task Force on Permanency Planning.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseKansas Rules Relating to Electronic Devices in Judicial Proceedings
The Supreme Court of Kansas rules governing electronic and photographic media coverage of judicial proceedings, and non-media use of electronic devices in judicial proceedings.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseKansas Rules Relating to Supervision of Offenders
The Supreme Court of Kansas rules governing the supervision of offenders: earned discharge credit for juvenile probationers, and the assessment of offenders by court services officers.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseKansas Rules Relating to the Judicial Nominating Commission
The Supreme Court of Kansas rules governing the records of the Judicial Nominating Commission: their confidentiality and their retention.
Updated 2026 Edition
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