Kansas, county records
Find the right office in Douglas County. Court cases, deeds and parcels, sheriff and jail records, vital records and county filings, each linked to the office that keeps them.
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Every card below goes to the government office responsible for that record. Use the category buttons to narrow the list.
State records
The Kansas Secretary of State's business services search corporations, LLCs and other registered entities and check whether a name is available. Kansas keeps no statewide filing for sole proprietor trade names.
Open official site Kansas Fictitious Business Names FilingsState records
Search property and claim status by individual name or business through the state treasurer.
Open official site Kansas Unclaimed PropertyVital records
Request copies of death records from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
Open official site Kansas Death RecordsState records
Find active and inactive corporations by name from the Kansas Business Center.
Open official site Kansas Business & Corporation SearchVital records
Request a copy of a marriage certificates from the Kansas Dept. of Health and Environment.
Open official site Kansas Marriage SearchLocal record guide
County profile
Sheriff & Law Enforcement. Douglas County Sheriff's Office is responsible for law enforcement in the unincorporated areas of Douglas County.
Police Departments. Douglas County is served by several law enforcement agencies, including Douglas County Sheriff's Office and municipal police departments such as the Lawrence Police Department, Baldwin City Police Department, and Eudora Police Department. Each department has jurisdiction within its respective city limits, while the Sheriff's Office covers the unincorporated areas of Douglas County.
Law Enforcement & Arrests. Douglas County Sheriff's Office provides law enforcement services to unincorporated areas and operates the county correctional facility. Its current homepage announces the Public Safety Building at 3605 East 25th Street, Lawrence, KS 66046; use the current Sheriff service routes.
Criminal Records. For an authoritative source, see Court Records | Douglas County KS .
Arrest Records. They are maintained by the arresting agency, primarily the County Sheriff's Office and municipal police departments.
Abandoned mine records
Where the workings are, and the office that holds the mine maps.
From the old mine records
The mine records hold 1 mine site inside the county: 1 site producing when the record was made; the old survey maps add 25 holes drawn inside the county, 0 of them shafts or tunnels.
A point in either file is a location, not a property line: the sheet shows the opening on the surface, not the rooms under it. The record that shows what runs under a parcel is the mine map. The OSMRE National Mine Map Repository holds scanned underground mine maps and answers requests for a named mine or an area. Underground coal mining in Kansas was concentrated in Cherokee and Crawford Counties.
Douglas County sits over the Western Region coal field and the coal there is medium and high volatile bituminous, worked underground in many places. The two federal files record a shaft, an adit or a deposit where one was drawn on a survey sheet or catalogued as a site; neither file carries the outline of the workings, so the counts above are not the measure of what was mined under this county. The record that shows it is the mine map, held by KDHE Abandoned Mine Land Program and linked below.
Kansas abandoned mine maps ranks every county and town in the state by the workings recorded inside it, names the office that holds the mine maps, and says what to do if the ground moves.
Disclaimer: The mine information here is for general information only. Old mine records can be incomplete, outdated or wrong, and finding nothing here does not mean there is nothing there. Check with the mine map office named here before you rely on it, and have a qualified engineer look at any ground you are worried about. PublicRecordCenter.com assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors, omissions, or consequences arising from the use of this information.
Labor Department file
The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division closed 158 investigations in Douglas County since fiscal 2005 and recorded $3,937,451 in back wages agreed for 3,039 workers. The county is the one the Census Bureau puts each employer's ZIP code in. Snapshot of April 22, 2026; a case here is a finding by the Division, not a court judgment.
| Employer | City | Cases | Back wages | Workers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vangent, Inc. | Lawrence | 2 | $2,981,950 | 1,503 |
| ZLD Inc. | Lawrence | 2 | $110,327 | 33 |
| Blue Sky Satellite Services, Inc. | Lawrence | 1 | $106,590 | 128 |
| KDB Company, Inc. | Lawrence | 2 | $81,466 | 39 |
| 715 LLC | Lawrence | 1 | $77,561 | 52 |
| Yokohama Sushi KS LLC | Lawrence | 1 | $59,547 | 58 |
| Rice Precision Manufacturing, Incorporated | Baldwin City | 1 | $46,364 | 12 |
| Ken C Baker II LLC | Lawrence | 1 | $43,725 | 20 |
| Margarita's Inc. | Lawrence | 1 | $37,260 | 18 |
| Free State Brewing Co, Inc. | Lawrence | 1 | $34,537 | 48 |
| Rising Phoenix Community Living, L.L.C. | Lawrence | 1 | $33,139 | 28 |
| General Dynamics Information Technology Inc. | Lawrence | 3 | $31,989 | 74 |
| Hulsing Hotels Kansas, Inc. | Lawrence | 1 | $23,807 | 13 |
| Sun Creations, Inc. | Lawrence | 1 | $20,512 | 37 |
| Sunflower Paving Inc. | Lawrence | 1 | $20,463 | 61 |
| Cooper's Home Care | Lawrence | 1 | $17,504 | 2 |
| Wa Restaurant INC. | Lawrence | 1 | $12,180 | 25 |
| Tres Mexicanos Inc. | Lawrence | 1 | $11,364 | 3 |
| Home Oxygen 2-U | Lawrence | 1 | $10,971 | 56 |
| Trinity IN-HOME CARE, INC. | Lawrence | 1 | $9,180 | 4 |
| Upper Crust Food Service, LLC | Lawrence | 1 | $8,371 | 14 |
| R&H Concrete, Incorporated | Lawrence | 1 | $8,168 | 34 |
| Riley Drive Entertainment VIII, Inc | Lawrence | 1 | $8,147 | 24 |
| La Estrella Latina LLC | Lawrence | 1 | $8,120 | 4 |
| Papa Keno's Pizzeria, Inc. | Lawrence | 1 | $7,181 | 31 |
The 25 employers with the most back wages agreed, of 141 on the Douglas County record; 35 employers have a page of their own and open from the table, the rest show their whole record here. The 116 more with smaller records are on the Kansas wage theft records page, whose search answers for every employer in the state.
Douglas District Court links the Kansas District Court Public Access Portal and asks users to register for a portal account. It also provides public-access computers in the clerk's lobby in the basement of the Judicial and Law Enforcement Center. A portal search can help identify the court case, parties and documents, but the county distinguishes information assembled in response to a request from the official court case record. For proof of a disposition or an order, specify the official filed document and the certification required. Keep the case number with every request and use the District Court records instructions.
The court request form lists paper copies at twenty-five cents per page plus an access charge of $12 per hour, prorated by quarter hour. Certification adds $1 per document; authentication adds $2 and may require up to ten business days. Those additions mean the page rate alone does not establish the final cost. The form may require an access-fee prepayment for an older file or an unknown case number, and it describes separate charges for fax delivery and shipping. Name the document, delivery method and certification level so the clerk can apply the court-record request terms to the actual order.
The Register of Deeds preserves Douglas land instruments, including deeds, mortgages and subdivision plats. A replacement copy of a recorded deed is a retrieval transaction; it does not create a new conveyance or change the owners. The office provides an online land search and a separate electronic certified-document service, along with a name-based filing alert. Save the instrument reference and the parties' recorded names before requesting a copy. Military discharge records have restricted access despite being held by the same recording office. Ask which record series and certification route applies through the Douglas Register of Deeds services.
Paper recording requires the original, legible document, appropriate signatures and notarization, and the full legal description when the filing is indexed to a parcel. A reference to an earlier instrument needs its book and page. The published schedule charges $21 for the first page of a deed, mortgage or comparable instrument and $17 for each additional page; releases and assignments follow a different schedule. A certificate certifying an instrument is listed at $13, which should not be treated as the complete cost of every copied document. Match the instrument and requested service to the paper-recording requirements and fee schedule.
Douglas Public Works provides an interactive survey lookup for officially recorded surveys and identifies both Public Works and the Register of Deeds as contacts for past survey research. A location search can reveal that a survey has been recorded without establishing the present location of a disputed corner on the ground. Retain the surveyor, date, survey reference and affected parcel information before requesting the underlying sheet. When the task requires new fieldwork, the county distinguishes its survey records from private surveying services and explains that the county surveyor is not available for hire. Review the land-survey records and contact guidance.
The County Appraiser values real and personal property; it does not set tax rates or collect the taxes. Its property search and valuation resources can help identify the parcel, assessment information and mapped context associated with an address. Use that information to describe the property when searching for deeds, but preserve the appraisal year and the recorded instrument as separate pieces of evidence. A valuation disagreement belongs in the appraisal and appeal process, while a question about an ownership document belongs with the recording records. The office publishes appeal, exemption and property-information routes through the Douglas County Appraiser.
Kansas Vital Statistics lists certified birth certificates at $20 each. Online and telephone orders add a $15 expedited-service charge, while its mobile-app option uses a different processing charge and delivery arrangement. Ordinary mailed birth requests are described as taking seven to ten business days depending on volume; shipping time and complications can affect receipt. The first fee pays for a defined record search and is retained if no record is located. Douglas court records should not be substituted for a birth certificate. Choose the order channel and applicant documentation using the state birth-certificate product instructions.
Douglas Administration's open-records route expressly separates District Court, District Attorney, Sheriff and public-health requests from administrative county material. For a budget, resolution or commission record, describe the record and dates and send it to the identified information officer. The county describes an initial response within three business days, with reasonable staff and material charges possible. Its form is optional; the custodian may require identification, a written request or an appropriate use certification. Retain an estimate and any written explanation of withheld material with the request. Use the administrative records procedure for county-government files.
The Sheriff's current homepage announces the Public Safety Building at 3605 East 25th Street, Lawrence, KS 66046. It separates accident reports, call-log information, custody notifications, inmate reports and formal open-records requests. Select the product that answers the question: a custody report describes detention, while an offense report and court disposition describe other stages of an incident. An older courthouse address should not be assumed to remain the Sheriff's headquarters. Record the incident number and agency before requesting a report, and check the service-specific instructions reached from the Douglas Sheriff's current homepage.
Where to go
Each office below was read on its own site. A field the office does not publish is left out rather than filled in from a directory.
District Court files, case searches and copies.
Office page: dgcoks.gov
Recorded land instruments, plats and authorized military-record copies.
Office page: dgcoks.gov
Property appraisal records and valuation procedures.
Office page: dgcoks.gov
Recorded survey lookup and public-works records.
Office page: dgcoks.gov
Straight answers
Open only the answer you need.
Booking photos are kept by the agency that made the arrest, such as the Douglas County Sheriff's Office or a city police department in Douglas County. Ask that agency for its record.
The Kansas criminal history record comes from the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, Central Repository. Name based search online at www.kansas.gov/kbi/criminalhistory (no longer by mail or walk in), or a certified or fingerprint based request to the KBI. Fee: $20.00 for a name based online search; $30 for a certified name based check; $35 for a fingerprint based Kansas check.
Search the Kansas Offender Registry (KBI), or every state at once on the National Sex Offender Public Website run by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Register with the county election officer (the county clerk, or the appointed election commissioner in Johnson, Sedgwick, Shawnee and Wyandotte counties) or through the Kansas Secretary of State. You can also register online with the state online registration. Registration books close 21 days before an election.
Deeds and other recorded land documents in Douglas County are kept by the Douglas County Register of Deeds. Property values are set by the county appraiser, and tax bills come from the county treasurer. Source: official state page.
Certified birth and death certificates for Kansas come from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Office of Vital Statistics. Walk in at 1000 SW Jackson Suite 120, Topeka, KS 66612-2221 (Curtis State Office Building), by regular or priority mail, by telephone, or online through VitalChek, all listed by the Office. Fee: $20 for each certified copy (the first $20 is a five year record search fee that includes one copy if the record is found).
Business entity filings are searched with the Kansas Secretary of State, Business Services. Businesses should check with the county and city where they operate for local permits and licenses; many trades need state agency licenses.
The court places them in the clerk's lobby in the basement of the Judicial and Law Enforcement Center. Remote portal access has a separate account route in the District Court records instructions.
The request form adds access labor and $1 per-document certification to the twenty-five-cent page charge. Authentication is a different product under the court request terms.
The court form describes different electronic-document starting periods for criminal, domestic, civil and probate matters. Ask about the particular filing; it will notify you if the selected document cannot be emailed under the email-delivery instructions.
No. The schedule lists deeds and mortgages at $21 for the first page and $17 thereafter, while releases and assignments have distinct prices. Match the instrument to the recording schedule.
Use the Public Works survey lookup and contact Public Works or the Register of Deeds with the location and survey reference. The county explains these options in its survey-records guidance.
The Appraiser values property and expressly distinguishes that function from setting tax rates or collecting taxes. Use its office for the valuation information described in the Appraiser service list.
The current agency homepage announces its Public Safety Building at 3605 East 25th Street, Lawrence, KS 66046. Select the relevant records or custody service from the Sheriff's official homepage.
The County Clerk's Real Estate Division maintains parcel ownership records and certified ownership lists used for planning purposes. That product is distinct from a certified deed through the County Clerk's real-estate services.
Same county
Use the city page when a record was created by a municipal police department or city office; use the county page for courts, deeds, vital records and jail custody.