Republic County Clerk Contact
The Kansas Judicial Branch lists Emily Thoman as Clerk of the Court for Republic County. The office is inside the Republic County Courthouse in Belleville and serves the Republic County District Court within the 12th Judicial District. Court users contact this clerk for court case records, District Court filings, certified copies, probate case files, divorce court-file questions, traffic tickets filed in District Court, and case-specific questions that do not show enough detail in Kansas CaseSearch. The same phone line is the local court number, so callers should have a case number, party name, citation number, or document type ready before calling.
County records are split in practice. The Clerk of the District Court handles court records. The Republic County Clerk handles county administrative records, assessed values, tax accounts, and election-related county functions. The Register of Deeds records land documents submitted by the public. That boundary matters because a deed, tax record, open county-government file, criminal case, and probate estate may all involve the courthouse but not the same custodian.
Republic County Clerk of the District Court
Clerk: Emily Thoman
Republic County Courthouse
1815 M Street
Belleville, KS 66935
785-527-7234
Fax: 785-527-5029
Courthouse and phone hours: 7:30 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Mailing reference: P.O. Box 8, Belleville, KS 66935
Republic County Clerk Duties
The Clerk of the District Court is the filing and record office for District Court matters in Republic County. Kansas district courts are general trial courts, so the clerk's office touches many case types: civil, criminal, domestic, juvenile, probate, traffic, fish and game, small claims, and other District Court filings. The office also supports public access by helping users locate court records that are not released online, including converted documents and document classes that require courthouse-terminal access.
- Receives District Court filings and maintains the local court case record.
- Provides public access to records that Kansas law and court rules allow.
- Handles certified court copies when a file or order needs official proof.
- Answers case-status, payment, and court-date questions tied to District Court files.
- Works with courthouse terminals for records not available through web search.
Republic County users should not route court case requests to the County Clerk unless the request is for county administrative records. The county public-records page and open-records form apply to county agency records, while judicial-branch court records follow Kansas court-record access rules and local District Court handling.
Request Republic County Certified Copies
A certified copy is a court copy with official certification from the issuing court. It is often needed for a legal filing, title transfer, name change, probate matter, appeal, or agency request. An online search result is not the same thing as a certified copy. For Republic County court records, the certified copy must come from the Clerk of the District Court or the court system's authorized process.
- Identify the case by case number, party name, estate name, citation number, or filing date range.
- Confirm whether the document is a District Court record, county agency record, Register of Deeds record, or KDHE vital record.
- Call the Clerk of the District Court for copy availability, certification, fee, and payment instructions.
- Use the courthouse terminal or clerk request if the public document is not visible in Kansas CaseSearch.
- Submit the request in person or by mail if the clerk confirms that route, then wait for clerk processing.
Note: Domestic, guardianship, and converted documents may require courthouse-terminal access even when public case data appears online.
Republic County Request Fields
Republic County's public-records page identifies an open-records request form and says a Guide to Open Public Records is available in county offices. The located PDF endpoint returned a Not Found response during research, so exact form labels should be confirmed with the current county office. For court records, the Kansas Judicial Branch request-court-records process and the local Clerk of the District Court are the better route. A complete request should give enough detail for the custodian to identify the right file without guessing.
| Field | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Case number | Best if known | Use the District Court case number from CaseSearch, notice, citation, or file copy. |
| Party or estate names | Yes if no case number | Include full names and business names when available. |
| Record description | Yes | Name the order, decree, judgment, filing, docket, or certified copy needed. |
| Date range | Helpful | Use filing date, hearing date, or approximate year for older records. |
| Requester contact | Yes | Provide phone, mailing address, or email for fee and availability follow-up. |
| Delivery method | Helpful | Ask whether pickup, mail, or another court-approved method is available. |
Republic County Clerk Fees
Research located statewide Kansas fee examples, not a Republic County custom copy-price sheet. K.S.A. 45-218 and K.S.A. 45-219 allow agencies to charge fees and costs for inspection and copies, and K.S.A. 45-218 requires action on a records request as soon as possible and no later than the end of the third business day. Court filing fees come from statewide district-court fee sources, while copy and certification totals should be confirmed with the Clerk of the District Court before mailing payment.
| Item | Amount or Rule |
|---|---|
| Court records request response | Acted on as soon as possible, not later than the end of the third business day. |
| Public-record copy or inspection costs | Agency may charge and may require advance payment. |
| Divorce or paternity filing | $195.00 statewide fee example. |
| Expungement filing | $195.00 statewide fee example. |
| Fish and game filing | $108.00 statewide fee example. |
| Marriage license | $85.50 plus payment processing where applicable. |
| Probate estate or will | About $131.50 in Kansas district fee examples, confirm locally. |
Republic County Clerk Boundary
Republic County's split records environment is easy to confuse. The County Clerk page describes county administrative work, including assessed values, tax accounts, county records, and county administration. The Register of Deeds records documents submitted by the public for real-estate and related recording purposes. Those offices are not the custodian for a District Court criminal case, divorce decree, civil judgment, probate case, or District Court traffic citation. When the record is a court case or court order, the Clerk of the District Court is the office to start with.
The county public-records page and Kansas Open Records Act remain useful for noncourt county records. The manifest includes the official Kansas Open Records Act chapter index as a clerk-page source. The source page is the Kansas Revisor Chapter 45 index.
For court records, KORA works alongside Kansas court rules and judicial-branch procedures. It does not open sealed, juvenile, adoption, mental health, or otherwise restricted court material.
Republic County Clerk Forms
Official form access depends on the type of filing. Kansas Judicial Council provides legal forms for small claims, small estates, divorce, civil actions, fee waivers, and traffic-related forms. Kansas Judicial Branch self-help pages provide statewide marriage, divorce, probate, and fee resources. Republic County's open-records form was located as an official county URL during research, but the PDF returned a Not Found page, so users should obtain the current form from the county office or public-records page if the online file fails.
- Kansas Judicial Council legal forms - statewide court forms, including small estates and civil forms.
- Kansas district court fee information - filing fee examples used before contacting the clerk.
- Kansas court records requests - judicial-branch court-record request guidance.
- Republic County public records - county agency records and local open-records materials.
Republic County Online Access
For online District Court case data, use Kansas CaseSearch. The Kansas Judicial Branch describes it as the public district-court case search, with searches by case number, party name, business name, citation, and other criteria. Converted documents and some document classes are courthouse-terminal records rather than web records. For public agency records outside the court file, use Republic County's open-records channel and the correct county custodian.
K.S.A. 45-220 covers procedures for obtaining public records. The manifest includes that statute as a successful image source for the clerk page. The source is K.S.A. 45-220 from the Kansas Revisor.
Mail requests should use the mailing reference confirmed by the clerk for the specific record. Research found Republic County District Court at P.O. Box 8, Belleville, KS 66935, but payment, return envelope, and certification instructions should be confirmed before mailing.