CLEI faculty led the early design and conception of the Kansas Protection Order Portal (KS POP). KS POP was born out of an urgent need exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. It emerged as an example of innovation redefining how legal aid could be accessed and delivered remotely. With courts and legal services grappling with unprecedented closures and restrictions, the Kansas Judicial Branch, in collaboration with the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law, spearheaded an initiative that would not only address the immediate crisis but also lay the groundwork for a more accessible legal help. KS POP exemplifies how technology, collaboration, and human-centric design can successfully bridge the access to justice gap.
Since its launch on April 1, 2021, KS POP has dramatically streamlined the filing process for thousands of victims. Filing papers for a protection order with children could take up to eight hours. Filing the same protection in KS POP takes about 45 minutes on average. The system's eligibility review feature, which can be completed in just a minute and a half, allows victims to quickly determine their eligibility for a protection order and the specific type of protection they can request, eliminating frustration and delays from filing the wrong forms.
The eligibility review has been utilized over 65,000 times, leading to more than 25,000 filed protection orders. Notably, 37% of these filings occurred outside of regular business hours, indicating KS POP's critical role in providing continuous access to justice. As a testament to its effectiveness and user-friendliness, 75% of all protection orders in Kansas are now filed through KS POP, with its use extending beyond self-help litigants to include attorneys and advocates who value its efficiency and direct court filing capabilities.
For more information on this project, contact Prof. Ayyoub Ajmi at
