Kansas City Municipal Court set to return to normal business on Thursday

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - The Kansas City Municipal Court will return to business as usual on Thursday after a partial shutdown of services caused by a security issue on Monday. Court dates for about 1,500 cases were continued and the walk-in docket was canceled, but many residents are still feeling the impacts as they work toward getting back online.

“It’s just frustrating for real, but it’s gotta get done,” said resident Johnny Washington.

Washington is one of many who showed up to the court on Wednesday to pay for a traffic ticket. Shortly after, he was told to leave and come back later.

“I came up here on Monday and they told me to come back up here at one o’clock today but they closed for some reason, I don’t know what’s going on,” he said.

He’s joined by countless others who were turned away by the court upon arrival after expecting to sign up for the walk-in docket. The Kansas City Municipal Court is one of at least three in the area that suspended service this week. A representative for the court explained it’s all because of a security-related issue stemming from its online system, REJIS.

“I called my dad to come down and get me and now I can’t because he doesn’t have his cell phone on him because he rushed down to get us here so now we’re gonna have to take the bus. It really ruined our day just by whoever did that,” said resident Kathryn Moore.

The Kansas City Municipal Court is one of many in the area relying on the Regional Justice Information System (REJIS) to store information. It provides tech support to perform docket, scheduling, and other functions. Its partial shutdown has created a trickle-down effect for residents.

“It’s a hassle. Now I gotta come back Monday and I hope they’re good, up and going,” said resident Mary Stoudemire.

As of Wednesday afternoon, REJIS has given no details about the nature of the security-related incident, but the municipal court says it is accepting payments until 6:30 p.m. They also say the impacts that remain unavailable have minimal impact on the public and starting Thursday all hearings will resume as scheduled and issue warrants for failure to appear in court.

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