I am an attorney who lives in
Douglas County but my office is elsewhere in Kansas. Do I need to
complete a Law Library registration?
No. K.S.A. 20-3126(e) states: “For the purposes of this
section, an attorney shall be required to be registered in the county:
(1) Where the attorney's principal office is located, if such attorney
is a resident of Kansas or a resident of another state; or (2) where
the attorney resides, if such attorney's principal office is located in
another state. The principal office shall be the principal office of
the attorney and not the principal office of such attorney's
firm.”
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I am an attorney who lives in
Douglas County but my office is in another state. Do I need to complete
a Law Library registration?
Yes. K.S.A. 20-3126(e) states: “For the purposes of this
section, an attorney shall be required to be registered in the county:
(1) Where the attorney's principal office is located, if such attorney
is a resident of Kansas or a resident of another state; or (2) where
the attorney resides, if such attorney's principal office is located in
another state. The principal office shall be the principal office of
the attorney and not the principal office of such attorney's
firm.”
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I am an attorney whose office
is in Douglas County but my residence is elsewhere. Do I need to
complete a Law Library registration?
Yes. K.S.A. 20-3126(e) states: “For the purposes of this
section, an attorney shall be required to be registered in the county:
(1) Where the attorney's principal office is located, if such attorney
is a resident of Kansas or a resident of another state; or (2) where
the attorney resides, if such attorney's principal office is located in
another state. The principal office shall be the principal office of
the attorney and not the principal office of such attorney's
firm.”
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I am a public defender
employed by the Kansas State Board of Indigents' Defense Services. Do I
need to complete a Law Library registration?
Yes, but you are exempt from paying the $10.00 annual registration fee
while you are employed by the SBIDS.
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Why should I register for the
Law Library?
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.”
3. A registered attorney is eligible to be issued a key to the Law
Library, which allows the attorney access to the Library and all its
resources 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
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I am an attorney who is
required to register for the Law Library. How do I go about registering?
If it is the first time you are registering, you must bring your
Supreme Court registration card to the Office of the Clerk of the
Douglas County District Court on the basement level of the Judicial and
Law Enforcement Center, 111 East 11th Street, Lawrence, Kansas. At that
time, you will be required to pay the Law Library Registration Fee for
that year. The registration can then be renewed by payment of the
annual Law Library Registration Fee on or before January 15 of each
year.
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How long is my Law Library
registration good for?
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."
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What is the amount of the
annual Law Library registration fee?
The Douglas County Law Library Board of Trustees has set the annual fee
to the statutory minimum of $10.00.
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I am a public defender
employed by the Kansas State Board of Indigents' Defense Services. Do I
need to pay the registration fee?
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....”
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I am a local attorney. How
do I get a Law Library key?
You must have completed the Law Library registration process in order
to be eligible to be issued a key to the Law Library.
Go to the office of the Clerk of the Douglas County District Court.
After you have completed your initial registration, inform staff there
that you want a Law Library key issued to you. Court Clerk staff will
provide you with a Douglas County Law Library Door Key Application
Packet. Read the Douglas County Law Library Door Key Policy contained
in the packet. Court Clerk staff will then complete the Law Library Key
Authorization Form from the packet. Take the packet containing the
completed form to the Sheriff’s Department window on the
second floor of the Judicial and Law Enforcement Center, 111 East 11th
Street, Lawrence, Kansas. Read and sign the Law Library Door Key
Acceptance Form in the presence of Sheriff’s Department staff
responsible for issuing keys. Surrender the packet there and a key will
be issued to you.
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I am a registered attorney
but do not currently have a Law Library key. How do I get a key?
Go to the office of the Clerk of the Douglas County District Court.
Inform staff there that you want a Law Library key issued to you. Court
Clerk staff will provide you with a Douglas County Law Library Door Key
Application Packet. Read the Douglas County Law Library Door Key Policy
contained in the packet. Court Clerk staff will then complete the Law
Library Key Authorization Form from the packet. Take the packet
containing the completed form to the Sheriff’s Department
window on the second floor of the Judicial and Law Enforcement Center,
111 East 11th Street, Lawrence, Kansas. Read and sign the Law Library
Door Key Acceptance Form in the presence of Sheriff’s
Department staff responsible for issuing keys. Surrender the packet
there and a key will be issued to you.
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I am an attorney from
outside of Douglas County and not required to register for the Law
Library. Can I get a Law Library key issued to me? How?
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.
To be issued a key, bring your Supreme Court registration card to the
Office of the Clerk of the Douglas County District Court on the
basement level of the Judicial and Law Enforcement Center, 111 East
11th Street, Lawrence, Kansas. Inform the staff that you are an
attorney who is not required to register for the Law Library, but that
you wish to do so to be eligible to be issued a Law Library key. Pay
the Law Library Registration Fee of $10.00 for that year. Court Clerk
staff will provide you with a Douglas County Law Library Door Key
Application Packet. Read the Douglas County Law Library Door Key Policy
contained in the packet. Court Clerk staff will then complete the Law
Library Key Authorization Form from the packet. Take the packet
containing the completed form to the Sheriff’s Department
window on the second floor of the Judicial and Law Enforcement Center,
111 East 11th Street, Lawrence, Kansas. Read and sign the Law Library
Door Key Acceptance Form in the presence of Sheriff’s
Department staff responsible for issuing keys. Surrender the packet
there and a key will be issued to you. You are subject to all of the
requirements and responsibilities of other key holders and you must
thereafter pay the Law Library Registration Fee annually to maintain
your key privileges.
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I am an attorney from
outside of Douglas County and will be visiting the local Court. Can I
get a temporary Law Library key?
Yes. As a courtesy, the Board of Trustees has authorized the issuing of
temporary Law Library keys to visiting attorneys. To obtain a key, go
to an Administrative Assistant in one of the six divisions of the
District Court. Read and sign a Visiting Attorney Douglas County Law
Library Door Key Form. You will be required to surrender your
driver’s license to the Administrative Assistant. The
Administrative Assistant will then issue you a Library key. You must
return the Library key to the Administrative Assistant from whom it was
originally issued before the close of business the same day that it was
issued. Your driver’s license will be returned after you
surrender the Library key to the Administrative Assistant. At no time
shall you be allowed to keep the Library key overnight. The Library key
issuing procedure must be repeated each day you need to access the
Library during non-public hours. You may have you own key issued to you
by following the procedure for
attorneys not required by statute to complete a Law Library
registration.
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I’ve lost my
Library key! What do I do?
If a key is lost or stolen, you must notify the Douglas County
Sheriff's Department, the Douglas County Maintenance Department, and
the Law Librarian or other designated Library staff immediately upon
discovery of the loss. During normal business hours, call the Sheriff's
Office at (785) 832-5203, Douglas County Maintenance at (785) 832-5296,
and Library staff at (785) 838-2477. After normal business hours,
notify the Sheriff's Office by calling (785) 841-0007. Any and all loss
and damage suffered by the Law Library as a result of the improper use
of a lost or stolen key that has not been reported to the entities
noted above will be the responsibility of the person to whom the key
was issued.
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I’ve reported my
lost Library key. How do I get a replacement?
Go to the office of the Clerk of the Douglas County District Court and
inform staff that you lost your key and that you reported it missing.
There will be a $25.00 reissuing fee charged to replace the key. After
you have paid the reissuing fee, Court Clerk staff will provide you
with a Douglas County Law Library Door Key Application Packet. Read the
Douglas County Law Library Door Key Policy contained in the packet.
Court Clerk staff will then complete the Law Library Key Authorization
Form from the packet. Take the packet containing the completed form to
the Sheriff’s Department window on the second floor of the
Judicial and Law Enforcement Center, 111 East 11th Street, Lawrence,
Kansas. Read and sign the Law Library Door Key Acceptance Form in the
presence of Sheriff’s Department staff responsible for
issuing keys. Surrender the packet there and a key will be issued to
you. If a subsequent loss of key occurs within 24 months of the first
loss, you will be assessed an additional charge of $50.00 for
replacement of the newly lost key.
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Can registered attorneys
make photocopies in the Law Library?
Yes. Attorneys may open an electronic account in the Library where they
can deposit funds that can be used to automatically pay for self-serve
photocopying and printing from the Library's patron workstations. In
addition, photocopies can be paid for by means of a coin-op device.
Photocopies and prints are 10¢ per page.
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Can registered attorneys
print from the Law Library's workstations?
Yes. Attorneys may open an electronic account in the Library where they
can deposit funds that can be used to automatically pay for printing
from the Library's patron workstations and for self-serve photocopying.
Both individual and law firm accounts may be set up. Prints and
photocopies are 10¢ per page.
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How do I set up an
individual or law firm printing/photocopying account in the Law Library?
Fill out an account application form, include an initial deposit of not
less that $5.00, and mail or bring to the Law Library.
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How do I add funds to an
individual or law firm printing/photocopying account?
To deposit funds into an established account, complete a deposit slip,
include along with the payment, and mail to the Law Library, give to
Law Library staff, or place in the Law Library's suggestion box.
Deposit slips are available in the Law Library and on-line.
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Answers to "For The General Public" Questions:
I am not a lawyer. May I use
the Law Library?
Yes. The Law Library is open to anyone and everyone during public hours.
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What are the
Library’s public hours?
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.
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Are there any restrictions
on the general public’s access to Law Library resources?
No. During public hours, all patrons of the Library have full access to
all the Library’s electronic and print resources.
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Can members of the general
public make photocopies in the Law Library?
Yes. There is a self-service coin-op photocopy machine in the Law
Library. Photocopies are 10¢ per page.
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Can members of the general
public print from the Law Library's workstations?
Yes. Members of the general public need to request assistance from Law
Library staff to print. Prints are 10¢ per page.
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May Law Library staff answer
my legal question?
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.
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Answers to "For Everyone" Questions:
How do I get to the Library?
The Law Library is on the first floor of the Judicial and Law
Enforcement Center, 111 East 11th Street, in downtown Lawrence, Kansas.
For the general public and attorneys without Law Library keys: Come in
the public entrance on the west side of the building that faces the old
Court House. After going through the security checkpoint, proceed
through the glass doors to the left of the elevators and down the hall
until another hall opens to your right. Go down that hall as if you
were going to exit through the south entrance. Go through the first set
of glass doors. Do not go outside through the second set of glass doors
as you need a key to enter through them. The Library entrance door is
on your left between the two sets of glass doors.
For attorneys with Law Library keys: Your Library key gives you 24/7
access to the doors at the south entrance of the building. The Law
Library is on your right after you have entered the outside set of
glass doors at the south entrance.
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Can I check books out from
the Law Library?
No. The Douglas County Law Library is a non-circulating library. All
Law Library materials must remain in the Library.
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Is the Lexis on-line legal
database available in the Library?
Yes. Lexis can be accessed through each of the Library’s
three workstations.
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Is there a charge for using
the Lexis on-line legal database in the Library?
No. All patrons of the Library have free access to all of the
Library’s resources, including Lexis.
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Are there opportunities to
volunteer in the Law Library?
Yes. The Law Library offers a number of opportunities for those
interested in volunteering. Check out the Volunteers
page on this website for more information.
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How do I contact the Douglas
County Bar Association?
Contact information for the Douglas County Bar Association can be found
on their website at http://www.dgbar.org.
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How do I contact the Office
of the Public Defender in Douglas County?
There is no official public defender for Douglas County. Upon
determining that a person appearing in court cannot afford legal
council, the district court judge presiding in the case appoints an
attorney to represent that person from one of two panels maintained by
the court for that purpose. For felonies, the attorney is appointed
from the Panel for Indigent Defense Services. For all other cases, the
attorney is appointed from the Non-Felony Appointment Panel. For more
information on the panels and the appointment procedure, consult Rule
No. 12 in Local Court Rules, Seventh Judicial
District, Douglas County, Kansas, available on-line
and in hard copy in the Law Library.
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How do I find the local laws
and statutes of Douglas County, Kansas?
The codified resolutions governing Douglas County can be found in the Douglas
County Code, available on-line
and in hard copy in the Law Library.
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How do I find the local laws
and statutes of Baldwin City, Eudora, Lawrence, and Lecompton, Kansas?
The codified ordinances of Baldwin City can be found in the Code
of the City of Baldwin City, Kansas, available on-line.
Information on the ordinances of Eudora can be obtained by contacting
the Eudora City Hall at (785) 542-2153. The codified ordinances of the
City of Lawrence can be found in the Code of the City of
Lawrence, Kansas, available on-line
and in hard copy in the Law Library. Information on the ordinances of
Lecompton can be obtained by contacting the Lecompton City Hall at
(785) 887-6407.
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For more information, contact the Law Library
at: info@douglascolawlibrary.org.
