Butler County Court Records
How To Find Court Records in Butler County in 2026
ButlerCountyRecords.us provides access to publicly available information related to court records in Butler County, Kansas. Members of the public seeking court records may locate case-related data including docket entries, party names, hearing dates, case dispositions, and filed documents, subject to applicable access restrictions under Kansas law. Record categories that may be available through official channels include:
- Civil court filings and judgments
- Criminal case records and disposition entries
- Family law matters, including divorce and custody proceedings
- Probate filings and estate records
- Traffic and infraction case records
- Small claims court filings
- Juvenile records, where not sealed or restricted by statute
Court records in Butler County may be searched through several official channels. The Clerk of the District Court maintains the official case files and accepts in-person requests during business hours. Courthouse public access terminals allow members of the public to search case information on-site without charge. The Kansas Judicial Branch operates online tools for remote case lookup. State-level judicial search platforms provide broader statewide access. Written or mail requests submitted to the clerk's office represent an additional method for obtaining certified copies or specific case documents.
Method 1 — Clerk of Court or Court Records Office: The Clerk of the 13th Judicial District Court in Butler County maintains official case files for all matters filed in the district. Requestors should provide the full case number, party name, or filing date to assist staff in locating records. Fees apply for copies and certified documents.
Method 2 — Courthouse Public Access Terminals: Public terminals located within the Butler County Courthouse allow in-person visitors to search case index information at no charge. Terminal access does not require a court account or prior registration.
Method 3 — Online Court Search: The Kansas Judicial Branch provides remote access to district court case information through its statewide portal. As courts transition to a centralized case management system, additional records become available through the online interface.
Method 4 — State-Level Judicial Search Tools: The Kansas Case Search portal allows searches by case number or party name across participating Kansas district courts, including Butler County. Search results reflect publicly available case index data and may not include document images for all case types.
Method 5 — Written or Mail Requests: Members of the public may submit written requests to the Clerk of the District Court specifying the case number, party name, and type of record sought. Certified copy fees and processing times vary by request volume and record type.
Butler County District Court — Clerk of Court
201 W. Pine St.
El Dorado, KS 67042
Phone: (316) 322-4370
Butler County District Court
Are Court Records Public In Butler County
Court records in Butler County are public records under current Kansas law. K.S.A. § 45-215 et seq., the Kansas Open Records Act (KORA), establishes the general presumption that records held by public agencies, including court clerks, are open to public inspection unless a specific statutory exception applies. The Kansas Supreme Court's rules on public access to court records further govern what may be inspected at the courthouse versus what is available through online systems.
Records that are public under current law and court rules include:
- Case docket entries and index information
- Party names (plaintiff, defendant, petitioner, respondent)
- Hearing dates, continuances, and scheduling orders
- Filed motions, complaints, petitions, and answers
- Court orders and final judgments
- Sentencing entries and probation terms in criminal matters
- Probate inventories and orders where not sealed
Records that may be confidential, sealed, redacted, or restricted include:
- Juvenile case files, which are protected under K.S.A. § 38-2209
- Adoption proceedings and related orders
- Mental health commitment records
- Expunged criminal records
- Protected personal identifiers such as Social Security numbers, financial account numbers, and dates of birth in certain filings
- Sealed filings ordered by the court upon motion
A distinction exists between courthouse inspection and online access. Members of the public may inspect a broader range of records in person at the clerk's office than may be available through remote online portals, as some document images are restricted from electronic dissemination under Kansas Supreme Court administrative orders.
What Are Court Records in Butler County?
Court records are the official documents, filings, and entries created and maintained by a court in connection with a legal proceeding. In practical terms, a court record encompasses everything generated from the initial filing of a case through its final disposition and any subsequent appellate proceedings.
A docket entry is a chronological log notation reflecting an action taken in a case, such as the filing of a motion, the scheduling of a hearing, or the entry of an order. A full case file includes the underlying documents themselves — complaints, answers, motions, exhibits, orders, and judgments — which may be voluminous in complex matters. Civil court records arise from disputes between private parties or between a party and a government entity, while criminal court records document prosecutions brought by the State of Kansas against individuals charged with offenses under state law.
Filed pleadings represent the formal written statements submitted by parties to define the issues in dispute, whereas final judgments are the court's authoritative resolution of those issues. Public filings are accessible to any member of the public under applicable law, while sealed or restricted filings are withheld from public inspection by court order or statute. Trial court records are maintained by the Clerk of the District Court at the local level; appellate records, including briefs and opinions from the Kansas Court of Appeals and Kansas Supreme Court, are maintained by the appellate clerk and are accessible through the Kansas Judicial Branch website.
Court records are created when a party files an initial pleading and are updated continuously as the case progresses through motions, hearings, orders, and final disposition. Upon conclusion of a case, the record is closed and retained according to the applicable judicial records retention schedule.
What's Included in a Butler County Court Record?
A court record in Butler County may include the following information, depending on case type and applicable public-access rules:
- Case number assigned at filing
- Court name and division (e.g., District Court, 13th Judicial District, Civil or Criminal Division)
- Filing date of the initial pleading or complaint
- Party names, including plaintiffs, defendants, petitioners, respondents, and attorneys of record
- Case type and current status (active, closed, appealed, dismissed)
- Docket entries reflecting each action taken in the case
- Hearing dates, continuances, and scheduling information
- Motions, complaints, petitions, answers, orders, judgments, notices, minute entries, decrees, and similar filed documents
- Outcome information such as dismissals, summary judgments, guilty pleas, convictions, sentencing entries, custody rulings, probate orders, or appellate decisions
- Administrative and financial information such as filing fees assessed, court costs, fines, restitution amounts, and bond information where publicly shown on the docket
Certain information is excluded or restricted from public court records. Sealed filings are withheld by court order. Expunged matters are removed from public access upon entry of an expungement order. Juvenile case files are confidential under Kansas statute. Adoption records are sealed. Protected personal data — including Social Security numbers, financial account numbers, and minor children's names in certain proceedings — is redacted from publicly accessible versions of filed documents. Some exhibits, particularly those containing sensitive personal or proprietary information, may be filed under seal or returned to the submitting party after proceedings conclude.
Types of Courts in Butler County
Butler County is served by the 13th Judicial District of Kansas, which encompasses Butler and Elk counties. The district court is the court of general jurisdiction for Butler County and handles the full range of civil, criminal, family, probate, juvenile, and traffic matters filed within the county. Under the Kansas court structure, the district court is the primary trial court, and its clerk maintains the official record for all cases filed at that level.
The Kansas court system, as described by the Kansas Judicial Branch, is organized into district courts at the trial level, the Kansas Court of Appeals as the intermediate appellate court, and the Kansas Supreme Court as the court of last resort. Municipal courts operate within incorporated cities in Butler County and handle ordinance violations and certain traffic infractions; records from municipal courts are maintained by the respective municipal court clerk rather than the district court clerk.
What Types of Cases Do Butler County Courts Hear
The 13th Judicial District Court hears the following categories of cases:
- Criminal matters: felony and misdemeanor prosecutions under Kansas statutes
- Civil matters: contract disputes, personal injury actions, property disputes, and other civil claims
- Family law: divorce, legal separation, child custody, child support, and paternity proceedings
- Probate: estate administration, guardianship, conservatorship, and trust matters
- Juvenile: delinquency proceedings and child in need of care (CINC) cases, which are confidential under K.S.A. § 38-2209
- Traffic: state traffic infractions and misdemeanor traffic offenses
- Small claims: civil disputes involving limited monetary amounts, currently capped under Kansas law
- Landlord-tenant: eviction and forcible detainer proceedings
Municipal courts in cities such as El Dorado, Augusta, and Andover handle municipal ordinance violations and certain traffic matters within their respective jurisdictions.
How to Search Butler County Court Records for Free?
Several methods for searching Butler County court records are available at no cost to members of the public.
Free methods include:
- In-person inspection at the Clerk of the District Court's office, where members of the public may review case files and docket entries without charge during regular business hours
- Courthouse public access terminals, which provide free on-site electronic case index searches
- Kansas Case Search, the statewide online portal operated by the Kansas Judicial Branch, which provides free case index searches by party name or case number
Methods that involve fees include:
| Service | Typical Fee |
|---|---|
| Paper copies of court documents | $0.25 per page (standard) |
| Certified copies of court records | $1.50 per page plus certification fee |
| Exemplified/authenticated copies | Fee set by clerk's schedule |
| Mail request processing | Varies by request |
Fee schedules for the Clerk of the District Court are governed by Kansas statute and the Kansas Supreme Court's administrative orders. Members of the public seeking certified copies should confirm current fees directly with the clerk's office, as fee schedules are subject to revision by court order.
How Long Does Butler County Keep Court Records?
The retention of court records in Butler County is governed by the Kansas Judicial Branch's records retention schedules, which establish minimum retention periods by case type and record category. Retention periods vary significantly depending on the nature of the proceeding.
Under current Kansas judicial records retention policy:
- Felony criminal case files are retained permanently or for extended periods given the severity of the underlying offenses
- Misdemeanor and traffic case files are subject to shorter retention periods, after which paper files may be destroyed following imaging or microfilming
- Civil case files are retained for periods ranging from several years to permanently, depending on the nature of the judgment and whether the matter involves real property or other long-term legal interests
- Probate records involving real property or permanent legal determinations are retained for extended or permanent periods
- Juvenile records are subject to separate retention and destruction schedules under Kansas statute, with some records eligible for destruction upon the subject reaching a specified age
- Docket books and minute records are retained permanently as the official chronological record of court proceedings
Older records may exist in paper files, microfilm, county archives, or the Kansas State Historical Society's holdings. The destruction of a paper file after imaging does not constitute expungement; the record remains accessible in its imaged form. Expungement, by contrast, is a legal process under Kansas law that removes a record from public access upon court order, distinct from routine archival retention or destruction of superseded paper copies.
How To Find a Court Docket in Butler County
A court docket is the official chronological log of all actions taken in a specific case, distinct from the full case file. While the full case file contains the actual documents filed by parties and issued by the court, the docket is the index or register of those actions — recording what was filed, when hearings occurred, what orders were entered, and the current status of the matter. The docket does not itself contain the text of filed documents but serves as the navigational record of the case's procedural history.
Dockets for Butler County District Court cases may be accessed through the following channels:
- Kansas Case Search portal: The Kansas Case Search system allows members of the public to search docket information by case number or party name. Search results display case index data including party names, case type, filing date, and docket entries for participating courts.
- Courthouse public access terminals: On-site terminals at the Butler County Courthouse provide docket access without charge.
- Clerk of Court in-person request: Staff at the Clerk of the District Court's office can retrieve docket information for a specific case upon request.
- Hearings Calendar: The Kansas Self-Help Center's Hearings Calendar provides access to scheduled hearing dates and court calendars, allowing members of the public to identify upcoming proceedings by keyword or case information.
A docket entry reflects the procedural history of a case and includes hearing dates, continuances, motion filings, minute entries, and status updates. A docket does not include full document images, sealed entries, confidential attachments, or exhibits filed under restriction. Motion calendars and daily hearing rosters may be separately available through the clerk's office or the Kansas Self-Help Center's hearing calendar tool. As the Kansas Judicial Branch notes, "as Kansas courts transition to a new centralized case management system, their public records will become available through an online portal," expanding the scope of docket information accessible remotely through the district court records portal.