KBI is investigating the security incident that shut down Kansas courts online access
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation is working with federal law enforcement to investigate the security incident that has severed online access to Kansas’ court system for more than a week.
In an email to The Star Monday Melissa Underwood, a spokeswoman for the KBI, confirmed the agency was looking into the incident.
“KBI is engaged in this incident along with our federal partners,” Underwood said. She did not specify which federal agencies were engaged and said she could not provide any further information.
The online systems allowing attorneys and the public online access to court records and the ability to file documents and pay fines remotely first shut down on Oct. 12.
The security breach impacted all state-level courts as well as every district court in Kansas other than Johnson County, which has not yet been incorporated into a statewide public access portal.
Courts have been able to continue operating during the shutdown but have required all filings submitted in paper. Kansans outside Johnson County who need to pay court fees, submit filings or apply for a marriage license must visit their district courthouse in person or deliver documents via mail or fax. Johnson County’s systems were not impacted by the security incident because the county has not yet finished moving its online records into the statewide system.
The Kansas Department of Children and Families said in a press release last week that the security brief may delay child support payments that are still waiting on a court order.
Little is known about the breach thus far. Lisa Taylor, a spokeswoman for the Kansas Courts, said Monday that court staff are still working to determine what happened and get the system back online.
“Our examination continues because we’re still trying to identify what happened, what it affected and what we need to do to recover,” Taylor said. “We’re also trying to figure out how we can get our systems back up so we can go back to business as usual.”
Taylor said it is still unclear whether Kansans’ personal data was compromised in the security incident. She said it was policy for the courts to notify the KBI and Kansas Information Security Office when the incident occurred.
This story was originally published October 23, 2023 at 12:15 PM.
