TOPEKA—The Kansas judicial branch has launched a text messaging service to remind people of their upcoming court hearings to reduce missed court appearances.

Carrie McGinley, director of trial court services, said the service is meant to improve communication with court users and improve court appearance rates.

“This will help people who are juggling many responsibilities in their lives and need a quick and timely reminder about their court date,” she said.

McGinley said people can register for the messaging service on the Kansas Hearing Reminders website, HearingReminder.kscourts.gov. Registration involves entering a name, phone number, and case number as it appears on court documents.

Once registered, a person will receive a text message reminder three days before and one day before their scheduled hearing date. The service can also notify users about unexpected court closures.

McGinley said the text message reminders are offered as a convenience to court users and don’t replace official court notices, orders, or other required communications. Users may opt out of the service at any time. The service is free but message rates may apply depending on the user’s mobile service provider.

Text message reminders are an option for most case types, but not all. The service is not available for:

• Protection from abuse
• Protection from stalking, sexual assault, and human trafficking
• Child in need of care
• Adoption
• Care and treatment
• Miscellaneous criminal and civil cases
• Marriage licenses
• Statutory liens and bonds
• State tax warrants

TOPEKA – (September 29, 2026) – Kansas Attorney General Kris W. Kobach today announced that Kansas has reached a substantial settlement with Roblox, the interactive gaming platform used by millions of children. The agreement secures more than $10 million in financial commitments and requires Roblox to implement and maintain a series of child-safety reforms designed to give parents stronger tools and keep minors away from harmful contact with unknown adults.

“Parents should not have to compete with predators and poorly designed platforms just to keep their kids safe online,” Attorney General Kobach said. “This settlement puts real money, real tools, and real accountability on the table. Kansas children deserve age-appropriate content and meaningful parental controls.”

Under the settlement, Roblox will pay $9.8 million to the Office of the Attorney General over three years. Roblox will also underwrite a $500,000, three-year multimedia public-awareness campaign focused on online child safety and designed to reach a Kansas audience. The agreement further provides for $10 million in damages if Roblox fails to comply with any of its terms. The collaborative effort between Roblox and Kansas marks a blueprint for how platforms and regulators can work together to keep kids safe online.

Kobach emphasized that the agreement is intended to raise the standard for platforms that market to children.

“Kansas will not accept a system in which kids can be steered into conversations with strangers and then pushed onto other apps where parents have even less visibility,” Kobach said. “Age assurance, default age-grouped chat, stronger parental locks, and limits on Robux transfers are practical steps. Combined with a dedicated law-enforcement liaison and a Kansas-focused safety campaign, this settlement gives families and investigators more of what they have been asking for.”

In addition to the financial terms, Roblox has agreed to implement and/or continue safety measures including, but not limited to:

• Requiring all users, both new and existing, to undergo age-assurance measures so that users have access only to age-appropriate content and chat features.
• Providing expanded parental controls for parents with a linked parent account and giving parents an option to exercise parental controls on device through a passcode or other locking mechanism.
• Protecting users under 18 from chat with unknown adults by restricting chat, by default, to users within the same or reasonably similar age groups.
• Enhancing chat-moderation tools to prevent off-platforming and taking proactive steps to prevent users from moving communications off the platform to other sites, including Discord.
• Continuously monitoring for and addressing communication-safety issues that arise with changing technology, and continuously improving safety measures as needed.
• Prohibiting users under 16 from sending Robux to other users and from receiving Robux from other users without parental approval.

The settlement also includes Kansas-specific operational commitments. Roblox will hire a Kansas-based law-enforcement specialist to provide concierge-style service for Kansas and Midwest-region law-enforcement requests. Roblox will also engage a professional with experience in child online safety to advise on and help coordinate child-safety policies and initiatives that affect minor users in Kansas and the Midwest region.

The Office of the Attorney General will monitor compliance with the settlement. Kansas families who continue to experience safety concerns involving the platform may contact the Office of the Attorney General.

The Roblox settlement marks Kobach’s second sweeping online child-safety reform in the last few weeks. Last month, the Attorney General’s Office announced a multistate agreement with Meta, the social media giant that includes Facebook and Instagram. Under that agreement’s terms, Kansas will receive more than $134 million.

TOPEKA – The Kansas Department for Children and Families (DCF) announced today a new partnership with Binti, a technology company focused on child welfare. The Binti Family Finding and Engagement platform strengthens practitioners’ ability to quickly identify and engage a child’s relatives and trusted adults, including non-relative kin, to support family connections and kinship placements.

Research shows that children in foster care who remain connected to relatives and trusted adults experience improved well-being, reduced trauma, and a greater chance of finding a safe, permanent home. Kansas’ use of Binti’s platform will provide crucial support to children who are at risk of entering foster care or are already in care.

“Children do better when they remain connected to the people and communities they know,” said DCF Secretary Laura Howard. “By using advanced family finding technology, we can uncover important family and trusted adult connections that might otherwise be missed, giving more children the chance to stay with people who offer familiarity, support, and a lasting sense of belonging.”

“Every child deserves the chance to grow up surrounded by people who know and love them,” said Felicia Curcuru, Co-founder and CEO of Binti. “We’re proud to partner with the Kansas Department for Children and Families to give practitioners the tools they need to find those connections faster and help more children build lasting bonds with family and trusted adults.”

DCF Child Protective Services (CPS) staff and Prevention and Protection Services contractors are responsible for conducting and documenting their own family-finding efforts. Currently, multiple resources are used, including Consolidated Lead Evaluation and Reporting (CLEAR) software, internal DCF systems, contractor case-management systems, case records, internet searches, and other available sources. Due to differing systems and documentation practices, it can be difficult to share information, avoid duplicate searches, track previous outreach and responses, and maintain a complete statewide record of family-finding efforts.

The Family Finding and Engagement platform aims to remedy this by centralizing the approach to family finding to one platform. Available to CPS, Family Preservation providers, and foster care case management agencies, the Binti platform will connect information across the child and family well-being system, ensuring that what is learned at each stage of a family’s involvement is carried forward.

Binti has been awarded a one-year contract with a total cost of $624,620 for the initial term, with an option to renew for three additional 12-month periods. DCF expects the platform to be operational in 2027.

TOPEKA—Chief Justice Eric Rosen signed an administrative order today proclaiming September 17 Constitution Day and September 17 through 23 Constitution Week in Kansas courts and encouraging all Kansans to commend its observance.

He signed the order in the Supreme Court courtroom, where the court had convened to hear cases on its docket. Before signing, he gave brief remarks connecting the U.S. Constitution with the Declaration of Independence signed 250 years ago.

“The Declaration announced our ideals that all people are created equal and endowed with rights that no government may rightfully take away,” he said. “But it was the Constitution that established a government of laws and an independent judiciary to protect rights, fairly resolve disputes, and uphold the rule of law.”

He added that the words in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution endure today because each generation accepts responsibility for giving them meaning. That responsibility now belongs to this generation, and it includes a duty to instill these ideals in others.

Celebrating Constitution Day in Kansas courts

Rosen noted several examples of court activities that celebrate Constitution Day and Constitution Week, including Supreme Court and Court of Appeals visits to schools, a mock trial for third graders, and educational programs at the Kansas Judicial Center.

Educational programs at Judicial Center

Students from northeast Kansas high schools visited the Kansas Judicial Center September 16 to participate in the Gene Balloun Legal Career Education Program. The Kansas 1st Amendment Foundation organized the event to introduce students to legal careers and help them develop related skills.

Staff in the Office of Judicial Administration led tours of the Judicial Center, taught students how to get into law school and become an attorney, and shared the history of the appellate courts. In the morning, the students attended Supreme Court oral arguments and were introduced to the court by Ken Thomas, executive director of the Kansas 1st Amendment Foundation. Chief Judge Sarah Warner and Judge Karen Arnold-Burger of the Court of Appeals spoke to the students to wrap up the daylong program.

Laurel Klein Searles, chief of attorney services and compliance, said the program is a great way for students to learn more about the legal field.

“These students chose the program because they are already interested in careers in law,” she said. “The visit is about connecting these students with professionals already working in the field who can share their firsthand experiences and answer their questions.”

Supreme Court special session in Liberal

The Supreme Court will visit Liberal High School as part of its outreach to familiarize Kansans with the court, its work, and the overall role of the Kansas judiciary in recognition of Constitution Week.

The court will be in session at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, September 22, after which justices will greet the public in an informal reception.

Court of Appeals Constitution Day dockets

In its annual recognition of Constitution Day, Kansas Court of Appeals’ panels will visit three college campuses next week to hear cases before students and members of the public.

On September 22, a three-judge panel will hear arguments in Lawrence at the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics and the University of Kansas School of Law, while another panel will hear arguments in Manhattan at Kansas State University. A third panel will hear oral arguments September 23 at Washburn University School of Law.

When the visits were announced, Warner said the cases selected for them were chosen because they include constitutional questions.

“Through these cases, students and the public can witness how constitutional rights impact everyone’s daily lives and understand how judges approach and decide constitutional disputes,” Warner said.

Mock trial for third-grade classrooms

To reach a younger audience, Judge Robert Wonnell of the 10th Judicial District invited third-grade classrooms nationwide to participate in a mock trial conducted from his Johnson County courtroom.

More than 47,000 students from 47 states and more than 90 classrooms on military bases around the world registered to participate in this year’s virtual event.

“The mock trial teaches students about our responsibilities, opportunities, and rights under the Constitution of the United States of America,” Wonnell said. “Students listen to witnesses, evaluate evidence, and act as jury to decide whether the defendant is guilty or not guilty of violating a fictitious law that prohibits running in the hallway.”

Judges throughout the Kansas courts were encouraged to connect with third-grade classrooms in their communities and to volunteer to visit classrooms in person for the event.

Importance of celebrating Constitution

In Administrative Order 2026-PM-098, Rosen notes the importance of celebrating the Constitution that shapes American democracy.

“As justices, judges, and court staff, we are honored to uphold that promise and to share its meaning with the people we serve,” Rosen said. “We encourage all Kansans to reflect on the freedoms and responsibilities guaranteed by the Constitution.”

TOPEKA – Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of Commerce David Toland today announced the Department of Commerce is seeking qualified community-based organizations to administer Individual Development Account (IDA) programs. These programs are designed to reduce both the number of Kansans receiving public income support and the number of communities with high concentrations of poverty.

Applications will be accepted through October 16.

IDA programs allow administering organizations to provide a match on deposits made by low-income participants who are saving to buy a home, making repairs on existing homes, starting or expanding a business, or attending continuing education classes at a college or technical school.

“Being an IDA program administrator gives community organizations a powerful way to invest in the people they serve by offering direct support for homeownership, education and entrepreneurship,” Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of Commerce David Toland said. “We want to partner with communities that are ready to help us deploy these barrier-breaking programs across the state and build a more prosperous future for all Kansans.”

Financial assistance is provided to charitable, tribal and religious organizations that administer IDAs in their community through the sale of tax credits. Organizations that service a specific region, multiple regions or the entire state can receive up to $100,000 in tax credits annually for three years. For the first two years, organizations are granted up to 20% of the funds earned to use for operational costs and 15% for each following year.

“Individual Development Accounts are a way to help level the playing field for all Kansans by strengthening families and supporting local economies,” Assistant Secretary of Quality Places Matt Godinez said. “By partnering with local nonprofits across our state, we’re able to help Kansans reach their full potential and open new doors for themselves and their loved ones.”

Organizations interested in administrating an IDA program are encouraged to register for an informational webinar at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, September 15. Registration is required to attend. To register for the upcoming webinar, click here.

To learn more about the IDA program, visit the program webpage or contact Kerri Falletti at Kerri.Falletti@ks.gov or by phone at (785) 207-5206.

About the Quality Places Division: Established in 2024, the Quality Places Division at the Kansas Department of Commerce exists to improve quality of life in communities across the state through various programs and services. The Kansas Department of Commerce understands the immense role played by strong communities in economic development and prioritizes investments in people and communities as major contributors to the overall strength of the Kansas economy. To learn more, visit kansascommerce.gov/community-development.

About the Kansas Department of Commerce: As the state’s lead economic development agency, the Kansas Department of Commerce strives to empower individuals, businesses and communities to achieve prosperity in Kansas. Commerce accomplishes its mission by developing relationships with corporations, site location consultants and stakeholders in Kansas, the nation and world. Our strong partnerships allow us to help create an environment for existing Kansas businesses to grow and foster an innovative, competitive landscape for new businesses.

TOPEKA — The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) is now accepting applications for state funding to support cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training and the purchase and maintenance of automated external defibrillators (AEDs).

The funding, authorized through House Bill 2513, is available to eligible public and nonpublic school districts, as well as religious or charitable associations, libraries and tribal entities that have a registered and approved Cardiac Emergency Response Plan (CERP) with KDHE.

The program is designed to increase access to lifesaving training and equipment across Kansas, with an emphasis on expanding access in rural communities. Funding opportunities include CPR and AED training for public and nonpublic school districts and support for AED maintenance and purchases.

A total of $750,000 is available through three funding opportunities:

• $500,000 for AED maintenance and/or purchases for eligible public and nonpublic school districts.
• $125,000 for CPR and AED training for eligible public and nonpublic school districts.
• $125,000 for AED maintenance and/or purchases for eligible religious or charitable associations, libraries and tribal entities.

Applications will be accepted through April 30, 2027, or until all available funding has been expended. The first application review will begin Oct. 1, 2026. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and applicants are encouraged to apply early while funding remains available.

Public and nonpublic school districts can apply for available training, AED purchase and maintenance opportunities through the school entity application.

Religious or charitable associations, libraries and tribal entities can apply for AED purchase and maintenance funding through the non-school entity application.

For additional information, visit the KDHE CERP webpage.