KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri, municipal courts both reported security issues with the system the courts use for day-to-day operations this week, causing court dates to be canceled.
Regional Justice Information Systems (REJIS), a technology service provider for courts, notified the KCMO Municipal Court of the issue on Monday. The KCK Municipal Court was notified on Tuesday, according to the Unified Government of Wyandotte County.
The issue prevents the KCK Municipal Court from accessing information from REJIS. KCMO reported a similar issue.
Both courts were also unable to process payments.
Court appearances and hearings set for Wednesday, Sept. 13, through Friday, Sept. 15, in the KCK Municipal Court will be rescheduled.
The KCMO Municipal Court said all court appearances — with the exception of trials — scheduled for Sept. 13 will be held.
By Wednesday afternoon, the court announced it would be able to return to business as usual on Thursday, meaning it will "hold all hearings as scheduled and issue warrants for failure to appear in court."
"REJIS notified Municipal Court late Monday about the security issue and that they would temporarily stop all services. Court dates for about 1,500 cases were continued and the court canceled the walk-in docket," a spokesperson for the KCMO Municipal Court shared in a statement. "Wednesday morning, REJIS restored partial functionality and Municipal Court regained the ability to take payments and access case records. The functions that remain unavailable have minimal impact on the public. The Municipal Court will be open until 6:30 p.m. Wednesday for payments and for probationers to complete urinalysis testing as part of the court’s new Wednesday evening extended hours"
The city of Overland Park also uses REJIS and reported the same issue. However, the municipal court building is under renovation, so officials were operating under a reduced caseload.
Overland Park said it is able to process payments, and while the city cannot access REJIS, it still working with the Overland Park Police Department to make sure a physical warrant is available to officers.
There is currently no additional information on the nature of the security issue.
“We had a security incident and are working to mitigate any damage," REJIS said in a statement to KSHB 41.
People with questions can contact KCK Municipal Court staff at 913-573-5200 or by email at kckmunicourt@wycokck.org. To reach the KCMO Municipal Court, call 816-513-1313.
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