Access Bourbon County Clerk Records

Bourbon County Clerk of the District Court

The relevant clerk for court case files is the Clerk of the District Court. Bourbon County's District Court Search page states that Bourbon County is part of the 6th Judicial District and identifies Melissa Trim as District Court Clerk, phone 620-223-0780. Kansas Judicial Branch material also identifies the Bourbon County District Court office at the courthouse in Fort Scott.

This office is separate from the Bourbon County Clerk. The County Clerk is the designated Kansas Open Records Act contact for county-government records such as county commission records, budgets, tax roll work, election records, permits, and county administrative files. A court case file belongs to District Court, not the county administrative clerk.

The county clerk duties page is also assigned to this clerk page as a local office source.

That source helps explain why court case files and county administrative records should not be requested from the same office.

Bourbon County Clerk Duties

The Clerk of the District Court maintains the case-file side of Bourbon County District Court. That includes criminal, civil, domestic, probate, small claims, juvenile, protection, and state traffic case records that belong to the trial court. Marriage, divorce, and probate records are listed by the county genealogy page as being on the third floor of the courthouse in District Court.

• Answer court case-file access questions.
• Help with courthouse terminal or older record access.
• Issue or process certified court copies when available.
• Receive filings and maintain docket and case records.
• Route public users to the correct District Court record process.

The County Clerk handles county KORA requests. Bourbon County says the County Clerk is the designated contact for Kansas Open Records Act requests, and written requests are preferred so the office can understand what is being requested.

Request Bourbon County Certified Copies

A certified copy is an official court copy with certification from the court clerk. It may be needed for legal filings, agency proof, name changes, divorce proof, probate administration, or appeal work. A portal image or printout is not automatically certified. Ask the District Court Clerk for the current certification process and cost because the research did not locate a Bourbon-specific court copy fee table.

1. Identify the case number, party name, and case type if known.
2. Check Kansas CaseSearch first for public case data.
3. Call or visit the Clerk of the District Court if a certified copy is needed.
4. Ask whether the copy can be mailed, picked up, or requested through a Kansas court-record request channel.
5. Confirm the cost before payment because local fee amounts were not exposed in the extracted sources.

Bourbon County Request Fields

For county administrative records, Bourbon County says a form is not required but a form is available, and written requests are preferred. The direct PDF fields were not exposed in the extracted source, so the field inventory below preserves only the reliable request elements from the research.

The Bourbon County open-records page is an assigned clerk page source.

The open-records source is useful for county records, while court files still route to the District Court Clerk.

Bourbon County Clerk Fees

Bourbon County's open-records page references Resolution 10-06 for copy and fax fees, but the extracted text did not expose final fee table amounts. Kansas law allows agencies to charge fees tied to actual costs. For court certified copies, ask the District Court Clerk. For county administrative copies, ask the County Clerk.

The K.S.A. 45-218 and 45-219 statute pages are assigned sources for this clerk page.

K.S.A. 45-218 supports inspection rights for public records where no statute or court rule closes access.

K.S.A. 45-219 explains why a Bourbon County record request may include copy, staff, or access costs.

State Court Request Fallback

Kansas Judicial Branch has a court-record request page for court records that are not available through ordinary online search. Official snippets state requests are acted on by the end of the third business day after receipt. Use that route when a record is missing from CaseSearch, a document image is not available, or a courthouse-only record needs formal request handling.

For County Clerk KORA requests, Bourbon County says written requests are preferred. For District Court case files, start with Kansas CaseSearch and the Clerk of the District Court. For Fort Scott municipal files, use the city court channel instead of the county District Court clerk.

When to Use Each Clerk

Use the Clerk of the District Court for court case files. That means criminal records, civil cases, divorce files, probate files, small claims, protection orders, state traffic cases, and certified copies of court documents. Use the County Clerk for county administrative records under KORA. That includes Board of County Commissioners records, meeting minutes, agendas, budgets, tax-roll work, election records, candidate filings, permits, and other county records outside the court case-file system.

This distinction matters most when a request is time sensitive. A written KORA request to the County Clerk will not produce a certified criminal judgment if the record belongs to District Court. A District Court records request will not produce county commission minutes or tax levy records. Bourbon County's open-records page says written county requests are preferred, while court-record searches start with CaseSearch, courthouse terminals, and the District Court Clerk.

When the requested record crosses offices, identify the record purpose first. A divorce certificate is a KDHE vital record, but the divorce decree is a District Court file. A jail booking record is a sheriff record, but the charges filed after arrest are a District Court criminal case. A Fort Scott ticket may be a municipal court record, while a state traffic case may be a District Court matter. The correct clerk depends on the record's source.

For mailed or in-person court requests, use the courthouse address and include enough identifying information to avoid a broad search. Case number, party names, year, record type, and copy type are more useful than a general name alone. For county KORA requests, the county states that a form is not required, but clear written requests are preferred. That detail should guide how users phrase requests to either office.

The clerk page also needs the Kansas fee caveat. The research did not expose Bourbon County's complete court-copy fee table, so fixed prices should not be invented. K.S.A. 45-219 supports actual-cost recovery for public-record copies, but court certification and filing charges should be confirmed with the District Court Clerk before a request is mailed or presented at the counter.

Response timing also depends on the channel. Kansas court-record request snippets say court requests are acted on by the end of the third business day after receipt. Counter service, courthouse terminal access, and certified-copy production may follow different timing, especially for older, sealed, or archived case files. For practical requests, include whether the copy must be certified, whether pickup or mail is preferred, and whether the record is needed from a District Court case or county KORA file, and include a phone or email for cost notices and staff follow-up, especially when a certified copy or older file is involved.