WICHITA, Kan. (KAKE) - April marked six months since the Kansas court system first realized someone had hacked its computers. The fight not only to get back online after the cyberattack but also caught up digitally has left hundreds of Kansans, if not more, fighting just to survive.

"I knew about... I heard about the hacking. I didn't think twice about it affecting my background check," said Addison Pauler, a former Sedgwick County resident.

That was the beginning of the KAKE News report last October that, for the first time, unveiled the probability someone had hacked the courts' new statewide computer system. Now we know it was a cyberattack, an attack still affecting Kansans months after the state got the computers back up and operating.

To Addison the headlines were background noise. His mother worked for the court. He knew there was trouble. But, as he and his family sold their home and moved to Colorado for a new job, he didn't think it had anything to do with him.

Until, that is, his new boss contacted him.

"My employer reached out and said, 'Actually, we can't have you work yet because we see that your background check is only... it's either 80 or 90% complete,'" Addison explained.

As a cardiovascular specialist who works in cath labs, his employer couldn't just take it on good faith that Addison would pass the last 10 to 20% of his background check. So Addison had to wait a week which stretched into two weeks, then a month, two months, three.

"It's taken five months for Kansas to supply a background check to my employer," Addison said when speaking with KAKE News at the beginning of April.

Five months later and he's still waiting with the bills piling up and no steady income. He can't go back to his old job and he can't start his new one.

Addison and his family aren't alone in this predicament. You can find hundreds of similar stories on social media, like the Wichita SubReddit. Folks who want to work, but can't. Folks who've gone through their savings and are now relying on friends and family just to survive.

After three months, Addison decided to apply for unemployment through Kansas.

"On a selfish note, I would like my unemployment benefits. I think that's absolutely fair," Addison said, since it's the state's troubles that are keeping him from working.

But the Kansas Department of Labor denied him unemployment because he left his last job voluntarily. He appealed and a month later the state denied that, too.

"It is like pulling teeth asking for help. It is embarrassing. It's exhausting. It's stressful," Addison said.

KAKE News Investigates reached out to the Department of Labor. A spokesperson told us that unemployment benefits are dependent on the previous job's status, not the new one. But, the department also encouraged anyone who thinks they might qualify for unemployment to go ahead and apply every week until their case is adjudicated, just in case.

Full Department of Labor statement:
Following up on your question the short answer is UI benefits are dependent on the previous employment and a pending background check wouldn't have any bearings on benefits.
The Employment Security Law decides if someone can get unemployment benefits by looking at when they left their last job. If you're offered a job but you have to pass a background check first, you're not officially hired until you pass that check. So, if you file for benefits in this situation, a claimant should continue to file weekly claims since they are still unemployed pending the background check.
Below are the links I spoke to you as well over the phone...
Resources: https://www.dol.ks.gov/labor-market-information/additional-resources
Statistics: https://klic.dol.ks.gov/vosnet/gsipub/documentView.aspx?enc=tbH9CEmLg7sSurRdDsXT5A==

While Addison continues to wait for his background check to be completed, he's got more questions for the Kansas court system.

"Why is our security, this vulnerable? And why is it taking so long to fix the problem?"

A spokesperson for the Kansas Courts told KAKE News Investigates that when the courts got the statewide computer system back up and running they still had months of backlogged paper filing to catch up on, documents that had to be digitized one at a time or typed in by hand.

In a written statement, the courts said: "We have only a few courts left to complete this work. Court clerk offices modified their hours to give undivided attention to this work. We also have about 25 court employees helping other courts through workshare."

"They're able to provide, like I said, 90% of the background check, except for in certain counties," Addison said.

According to the Kansas Courts website, as of the day this story aired, three counties were still not fully caught up: Sedgwick, Finney and Wyandotte.

The court spokesperson added that third party private companies are the ones who actually do the background checks. They just use court data to do it with. Data that is still not fully up to date yet.

"The remaining courts are near the finish line, but I cannot give you an absolute date the work will be done. I can say it will be soon," the spokesperson said in an email. "Please know that restoring systems quickly and safely was our highest priority. After safety and security was the goal to resume the full range of services we provide to people and businesses of Kansas, and we have made significant progress."

The complete Kansas Courts statement:

The effects of the cyberattack have been far reaching, and we empathize with everyone who has been touched by it. That includes people waiting for background checks, attorneys who had to switch to paper filings while our systems were offline, and court staff who had to manage a huge influx of paper and then bring our information systems back up to date.

The KBI, which manages its own database of criminal history data, was also affected. We are statutorily required to provide certain criminal case information to them. Prior to the cyberattack, it was delivered digitally. After the cyberattack, courts sent paper documents to the KBI and the KBI entered data manually. When our systems were restored, we resumed electronic data transmission. Visit www.kansas.gov/kbi/criminalhistory/ to learn more about the service. 

Regarding background checks, it's a common misconception courts do this work. Instead, background check companies use court data to conduct background checks. Because we don't perform background checks, we do not know all they entail. What we do know is that background check companies rely on court data.

Starting in 2019, the Kansas court system began to offer access to district court case information online for free. It was part of our Kansas eCourt case management system rollout. It started with two east-central judicial districts. Sedgwick County District Court, which is where your station is located, was the most recent district to join the eCourt case management system. That was on August 7, 2023. Our statewide rollout plan (www.kscourts.org/KSCourts/media/KsCourts/eCourt/eCourt-Statewide-Rollout-Plan.pdf) shows the timeline for districts to join the system.

When the cyberattack occurred, court information systems were taken offline. This included the case management system courts use to process cases, the efiling system attorneys use to file documents, and the Kansas District Court Public Access Portal (https://prodportal.kscourts.org/prodportalportal) many people use to search district court case information. Background check companies use the portal, too.

While systems were offline, courts could only accept paper filings, and actions in cases were tracked manually. When systems were brought back online, courts resumed day-to-day electronic case processing. At the same time, they worked to bring the case management system up to date with cases and filings made during the two months the case management and efiling systems were offline. It's this case management system information that is available through the public access portal.

Courts have made significant progress updating the case management system with cases and documents filed while it was offline. You can track that progress at www.kscourts.org/About-the-Courts/Court-Administration/OJA/Court-Systems-Security-Incident/Status-of-District-Court-Restoration.

From the list, you can see we have only a few courts left to complete this work. Court clerk offices modified their hours to give undivided attention to this work. We also have about 25 court employees helping other courts through workshare. The remaining courts are near the finish line, but I cannot give you an absolute date the work will be done. I can say it will be soon.

Keep in mind, even if a court has not completed this work, the case management is being updated daily with cases and documents filed while the case management system was offline. So, even if Sedgwick County is not marked complete, a good portion of the work is done. When the last cases and documents are added to the case management system, we will update the list to indicate the work is complete.

Please know that restoring systems quickly and safely was our highest priority. After safety and security was the goal to resume the full range of services we provide to people and businesses of Kansas, and we have made significant progress.

As I said, the cyberattack had far reaching effects beyond court operations. We appreciate everyone's patience as we worked to restore our systems and now to finish updating them.

Let me know if you have other questions.

"There's been hackings like this before, and I've read about the jurisdiction's lack of IT security," said a frustrated Addison. "You know, it's 2024. Get with the program."

Last summer, a state study showed more than half of the 15 state-controlled departments and agencies reviewed did not follow best practices for IT and cybersecurity.

The state legislature has been working on a proposed fix by creating a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) for the court system, among other things. But, they haven't been able to reach an agreement on the details of what that fix should look like. And, time is running out for this legislative session. They're hoping to get a compromise to vote on the House and Senate floors this weekend, April 26-28.