By statute, Law Library registration must be renewed annually by payment of the annual Law Library Registration Fee, "on or before January 15 of each year."

You must have completed the Law Library registration process in order to be eligible to be issued a key to the Law Library.  After you have completed your initial registration, inform Law Library Manager that you want a Law Library key issued to you. You will be provided with a Michael J. Malone Douglas County Law Library Door Key Application Packet. Read the Michael J. Malone Douglas County Law Library Door Key Policy contained in the packet and then complete the Law Library Key Authorization Form from the packet.

No. K.S.A. 20-3126(c) states in part: “...All attorneys required to register, except those employed solely as public defenders by the state board of indigents' defense services, shall pay to the clerk at the time of registering an annual registration fee....”  You must still fill out the Law Library registration form, but no fees will be assessed.  

Inform the Law Library Manager that you wish to have a Law Library key – the Manager will provide you with a Michael J. Malone Douglas County Law Library Door Key Application Packet. Read the Michael J.

Yes. As a courtesy, the Board of Trustees has authorized the issuing of Law Library keys to attorneys from outside of Douglas County who are not otherwise required to register for the Law Library. 

Yes. The Douglas County Law Library shall allow, as a courtesy, temporary access to the law library during court business hours for visiting attorneys who are not registered or otherwise entitled by statute or law library policy.Each Administrative Assistant of the seven divisions of the district court shall have a library key to check out to visiting attorneys to provide them temporary access to the Law Library.

Complete registration instructions and form are in the “Join and Renew Registration” section of our web page. 

Yes. The Law Library is open to anyone and everyone during public hours which are Tuesdays from 8:30am-3:00pm, and Wednesdays/Thursdays from 8:30am-12:30pm.

Yes. Westlaw can be accessed through each of the Library’s patron workstations. In addition, Bradley Software for parenting and child custody cases is available on one of the workstations.

No. All public patrons have access to all of the printed and electronic resources in the Law Library including Westlaw.

If a key is lost or stolen, you must notify the Law Library Manager/staff immediately upon discovery of the loss. During normal business hours, call the Law Library Manager at (785) 838-2477.   After normal business hours, notify the Sheriff's Office by calling (785) 841-0007.

Please see the Law Library Manager to report your missing Library key card.   There will be a $25.00 reissuing fee charged to replace the key. After you have paid the reissuing fee, the Law Library Manager will provide you with a Michael J. Malone Douglas County Law Library Door Key Application Packet. Read the Michael J. Malone Douglas County Law Library Door Key Policy contained in the packet.

No. Answering legal questions is considered to be giving legal advice. Library staff members are prohibited from giving legal advice in any form at any time. An attorney should be consulted to answer your legal questions.

The general schedule for the Law Library’s public hours is below. For a more complete schedule including holidays that the Library will be closed, see the Library Hours page of this web site.Sunday - Closed to public;Monday - Closed to public;Tuesday - 8:30am to 3:00pm;Wednesday - 8:30am to 12:30pm;Thursday - 8:30am to 12:30pm;Friday - Closed to public;Saturday - Closed to public;

The Michael J. Malone Douglas County Law Library Board of Trustees has the current annual fee set at $50.00.  This is re-evaluated each year and is subject to change.

1. K.S.A. 20-3126(c) states in part: “All attorneys required to register in such county shall register annually with the clerk of the district court….” 2. K.S.A. 20-3126(d) states in part that the Court Clerk: “…shall not file in the clerk's office in any matter or action, any pleading or other papers signed by an attorney required to register under this act who has not so registered and paid to the clerk of the district court the required registration fee.” 

You will be assigned a case number and set for hearing on a Tuesday at 1:30pm. The defendant will be summoned to appear also, if they were served notice to appear before the court. This first hearing is not the hearing where evidence is presented. The first hearing is a status conference, which means it is an opportunity for both sides to state if they would like the protection order to be in place or if the defendant opposes the protection order. If so, the case is set for trial.

Then there is no active protection order in place. You may choose to file again with more information.

When a protection order is submitted before noon on a weekday, the judge has until 5:00pm the same day to either grant or dismiss the request. If the protection order is submitted after noon, the judge has until noon the next business day to decide to grant or dismiss the order. Protection orders are only reviewed on weekdays.

Both sides, the petitioner and the defendant, get to present evidence to support their claims. If you have pictures or screenshots to present to the judge, you must also provide a copy for the other side. If there is video evidence, then you would need to load the video(s) to a flash drive to present during court. You may label evidence with numbers or letters. You may also create a list of exhibits in a table and print out the list for both the judge and the other side of the case.  

If a person is seeking a protection order against someone else, they can apply online at kspop.gov. Click “Get Started.”