Clark County Civil Docket Searches
Start with Kansas CaseSearch, the statewide public portal. When a court or location filter appears, choose the Clark setting. A known case number cuts straight to the case. Party and business names work as well. Common names, though, can drag in unrelated records from other places. The guest view is basic. It also states that its display is not an official court record. The portal is one door among several. Rule 22 also requires a public terminal at the Clark County District Court, where converted documents or case categories withheld from general internet viewing may be reachable. For certified copies, an older file, or a narrow set of records, contact the District Court clerk or file a Kansas Open Records Act request.
- Identify Clark County District Court on the notice or pleading.
- Search by the full case number, then try a narrow party or business term.
- Confirm the case type, status, file date, parties, and judicial officer.
- Read events in date order and distinguish a filing from a hearing setting.
- Use the terminal or clerk when a public document link is absent.
Clark Civil Number Formats
Kansas numbering has shifted as counties moved onto Odyssey. Clark switched in September 2022. Older files may carry compact forms like 2019CV25 or county-prefixed variants. The current format strings together the Clark code, the year, the case type, and a sequence number. That sequence runs six digits. A pattern such as CL2025CV000001 shows the shape only. It is not an actual case. Keep any leading zeroes when you copy a number. Choose civil as the case type where that option exists. If the number still fails, check the paperwork. Does it name district court, municipal court, or a federal court? Municipal courts handle city-ordinance matters rather than the ordinary civil docket. Federal civil cases run through PACER at the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas.
No result: Check the court name, county code, year, case type, and sequence before switching to a name search.
Civil Dockets: What They Show
A civil docket indexes events. It is not the whole paper file. The header carries the case number, court, filing date, case type, status, judicial officer, and party roles. Event rows trace the life of the case. A petition, an answer, a service return, a motion, a hearing, an order, a judgment, or an appeal can each appear there. Document images linked to those entries may be public, restricted to a terminal, or unavailable under a rule or court order.
| Case number | Clark code, filing year, civil type, and sequence in the Odyssey format. |
|---|---|
| Parties | Plaintiff, defendant, petitioner, respondent, or other role labels where public. |
| Filings | Petitions, answers, motions, responses, exhibits, and orders. |
| Service | Issuance and return entries that track delivery of court process. |
| Settings | Conference, motion, trial, or other hearing entries and later changes. |
| Outcome | Judgment, dismissal, default, settlement-related order, or appeal record. |
Dates need context. The date an order was filed may not match the date it was signed, served, or set for hearing.
Clark Civil Filing Mix
The fiscal-year 2025 civil filing report sorts Clark activity into Kansas reporting categories. Chapter 60 drew 23 filings. Chapter 61 accounted for another 65. Small claims added 10. Two family filings, 11 probate matters, and 12 mental illness proceedings rounded out the 123 civil filings for the year. Read the columns as reporting categories, not as a live count of open cases.
Chapter 60 is the home for broader civil actions. Chapter 61 covers limited actions and related proceedings. The aggregate report stays silent on the details. It cannot say which documents are public, how long a case ran, or what became of a named party, so those answers come from the individual docket and the governing access rule.
What Cases Fill the Civil Docket
Kansas uses an official civil cover sheet. It sorts each new filing into a category. Contract, tort, real property, and other civil actions form the broad core, while separate groups cover domestic relations, probate and estate work, guardianship or conservatorship, civil appeals, small claims, and miscellaneous proceedings. The form is a classification tool. It sits apart from the public case file and works as no one's search database.
- Contract, debt, and other Chapter 60 or Chapter 61 disputes
- Automobile tort, other injury, and property claims
- Mortgage foreclosure and other property-possession proceedings
- Divorce, parentage, and protection cases, subject to access limits
- Probate, estate, guardianship, and conservatorship matters
- Small claims seeking money or property within the Kansas limit
The Kansas Judicial Council's small-claims instructions cap claims at $10,000. The filing package is exact. It includes a civil cover sheet, a self-represented litigant certification, a petition, a summons, and a request for service, plus an optional poverty affidavit that can seek a fee waiver.
Small Claims in Clark County
Small claims are still civil cases. They just run on a simplified package and process. Venue still matters, so confirm you are in the right court before filing. The filer prepares the copies, arranges service, and shows up at the hearing listed on the summons. That summons carries weight. It lists the court and county, case number, parties, and the hearing's time and place, and it warns that skipping the hearing can end in default. The Clark clerk handles procedure. Ask about the right forms, the current fee, accepted filing channels, and required copies. The clerk gives no legal advice, though. Under the temporary Kansas rule, self-represented litigants may file in person, by mail, by fax, or through a local drop box, subject to Clark's current implementation.
| Task | Document or route | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Start the case | Petition and civil cover sheet | States the claim and classifies it |
| Notify the defendant | Summons and service request | Sets notice and service method |
| Check the hearing | Docket, summons, clerk | Confirms the current setting |
| Record the result | Journal entry | Captures the court's decision |
Hearings on the Civil Docket
Civil settings come in many shapes. A status conference, motion hearing, evidentiary hearing, bench trial, or jury trial can each appear on the Clark County civil docket. The entry may show when the setting was made. It may also show whether something later reset or continued it. A continuance moves the event; it never dismisses the case. Scheduling orders add their own deadlines, and those sit apart from the hearing date itself.
Local rules for the 16th Judicial District put motion days on the first, second, and fourth Thursday. They start at 9:30 a.m. unless the presiding judge says otherwise. The rule was revised in 2019 and still carries older assignment names. Read it as a recurring pattern, nothing more. For the actual Clark County civil docket setting, rely on the event index and the filed notice or order. The clerk at (620) 635-2753 can confirm it.
- Reset
- A new date entered for a prior setting.
- Continuance
- A court-approved delay to a later date.
- Default judgment
- A judgment that may follow when a party fails to respond or appear as required.
- Journal entry
- A written record of the court's ruling or action.
Clark Civil Filing Channels
Clark County gives civil filers more than one route. The Office of Judicial Administration e-filing system handles filings for eligible users. It is not the tool for public case search. A self-represented litigant can file in person, by mail, by fax, or through a drop box under the temporary district-court rule. That holds unless an exemption applies. Before counting on the drop box, confirm its current place and hours.
One form deserves care. The self-represented litigant certification asks the filer to swear that prohibited personal information is left out. Or it asks that a valid confidential-filing basis covers it. Personal information here means data Kansas rules protect. The certification guards filing privacy. It does not make a private filing public, and it promises nothing about internet access.
Filing and searching are separate: Sending a document through e-filing, mail, fax, counter, or drop box adds it to the court workflow. Kansas CaseSearch and the courthouse terminal are the public viewing channels.
Clark Civil Clerk Services
The Clerk of the Clark County District Court does the hands-on work for civil court records. The office keeps filing and service records. It issues summonses and later process, preserves papers, collects money due to the state, and maintains public access to court records. Visit at 913 Highland, Ashland, Kansas 67831, or mail to PO Box 790. Call (620) 635-2753; the fax is (620) 635-2155.
Clark County District Court Clerk
Hilary Foster, Court Clerk
Melissa Cramer, Deputy Clerk
913 Highland, Ashland, KS 67831
PO Box 790, Ashland, KS 67831
(620) 635-2753
Listed counter hours are weekdays, 8:30 a.m. to noon and 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Always ask the clerk for the current fee before ordering a plain, certified, or exemplified copy of anything from the Clark County civil docket. Clark posts no 2026 copy and certification schedule. The local docket-fee chart that is posted ended June 30, 2025.
Who Can See Civil Dockets
Rule 22 opens two doors to civil court records. One is the internet portal. The other is a courthouse terminal. Some public records, including certain converted documents, appear only at the terminal. Neither level reaches nonpublic content. Statute, rule, or court order can restrict adoption, juvenile, some domestic, protection, guardianship, mental health, sealed, and confidential material.
Access rules:
Kansas Supreme Court Rule 22 governs public electronic case-record and events-index access.
K.S.A. 60-2617 sets the process for restricting access to a court record.
K.S.A. 45-219 permits actual and reasonable costs for copies under KORA.
When a public civil filing is missing from the web, write down the case number, the event, and the date. Check the courthouse terminal next. Then ask the clerk whether the document is terminal-only, converted, redacted, sealed, or released only on a specific written request. The Kansas Judicial Branch KORA form lets you pick email, mail, pickup, or fax delivery. It lists no Clark-specific email address.