Kansas CLE Requirements: Hours, Deadlines, and Exemptions

To meet Kansas CLE requirements, active attorneys must complete 12 continuing legal education credit hours each compliance period, including at least 2 hours in ethics and professionalism. The period runs July 1 through June 30, and attendance must be reported to the Office of Judicial Administration (OJA) by July 31. Miss the hours or the reporting deadline and a $75 noncompliance fee is assessed, with suspension from practice possible if the deficiency isn’t cured.1Kansas Judicial Branch. Rule 804 – Minimum Requirements2Kansas Judicial Branch. Rule 809 – Annual Report and Noncompliance

The 12-Hour Minimum and the 2 Ethics Hours

Rule 804 sets the baseline at 12 credit hours per compliance period, with at least 2 of those hours covering ethics and professionalism.1Kansas Judicial Branch. Rule 804 – Minimum Requirements Ethics credits address the Kansas Rules of Professional Conduct; professionalism credits focus on civility and honorable conduct in practice.

One credit hour equals 50 minutes of actual instruction. Introductions, meals, and breaks don’t count. A session lasting at least 25 but fewer than 50 minutes earns a half credit, and anything shorter earns nothing.

Reporting Deadlines and the Grace Window

Attendance for a compliance period must reach OJA by July 31 following the June 30 close. Reports can be submitted electronically or mailed with a July 31 postmark.3Kansas Continuing Legal Education. Frequently Asked Questions

For in-state live programs, the provider reports your attendance to OJA within 30 days of the event, and the same obligation applies to providers of prerecorded and electronic live programs.4Kansas Judicial Branch. Rule 806 – Attendance Reporting If you don’t see your hours in the system, check whether the provider actually submitted the report before assuming OJA lost them.

If you fall short on hours by June 30, Kansas gives a limited makeup window: you can attend programming in July and August to cover the previous period’s shortfall. The $75 fee is still assessed in early August regardless.3Kansas Continuing Legal Education. Frequently Asked Questions

What Noncompliance Costs

The $75 noncompliance fee applies in two situations: your attendance report arrives after July 31, or you haven’t completed 12 hours by June 30.2Kansas Judicial Branch. Rule 809 – Annual Report and Noncompliance

The fee is only the first step. If OJA determines you haven’t met the minimum, it sends a notice of noncompliance. From the date of that notice you have 30 days to cure the deficiency, show cause for an exception, or request a hearing before the Board. If you don’t cure and the Board doesn’t grant an exception, OJA submits your name to the Kansas Supreme Court for suspension from the practice of law. Reinstatement then requires completing all delinquent hours and paying any outstanding fees before you can return to active status.

Carrying Hours Forward

Earn more than 12 hours in a period and you can carry up to 10 excess general attendance credit hours into the next period.1Kansas Judicial Branch. Rule 804 – Minimum Requirements Three limits matter:

  • Excess ethics hours carry over only as general attendance hours. You still need a fresh 2 ethics hours each period.
  • Teaching credit, authorship credit, and law practice management credit cannot be carried over at all.
  • Your documentation must reach OJA by July 31, or be postmarked by that date. Miss the window and the carry-over is forfeited even if the hours were legitimately earned.

Credit for Teaching and Law Practice Management

Under Rule 808(c), you can earn up to 5 credit hours for each 50 minutes of teaching at an approved program, with credit calculated on combined preparation and presentation time.5Kansas Continuing Legal Education. Guidelines for Teaching Credit Kansas Supreme Court Rule 808(c) Spend 150 minutes preparing and 50 minutes teaching and you net 4 credit hours.

The audience must be primarily attorneys. Teaching aimed at non-attorneys doesn’t qualify for teaching credit, though it may count as attendance credit. Moderating a panel earns attendance credit, not teaching credit. Repeat presentations qualify only for time spent updating and re-presenting. You’ll also need to file an application outlining the program content, teaching methodology, and preparation time. Because teaching credit cannot be carried over, it helps only in the year you earn it.

Law practice management courses, which cover topics like trust accounting, office technology, and practice efficiency, are capped: no more than 2 of these hours count toward the annual 12-hour requirement.6Kansas Judicial Branch. Rule 808 – Credit Anything beyond 2 hours in this category won’t reduce what you still owe.

Out-of-State Programs

Kansas doesn’t limit you to in-state courses. If you attend a program in another state that wasn’t pre-approved by OJA, you can apply for individual credit approval directly.7Kansas Judicial Branch. Rule 805 – Program Approval, Standards, and Appeals OJA must respond within 30 days, and the program isn’t considered approved until you receive that notification.

Reporting works differently for out-of-state courses. The provider won’t report to Kansas for you; you must submit an executed affidavit to OJA within 30 days after the program.4Kansas Judicial Branch. Rule 806 – Attendance Reporting Attorneys licensed in multiple states most often slip here, assuming a provider’s report to one state satisfies another.

Who Is Exempt

Rule 804(d) exempts three groups from the annual 12-hour requirement:1Kansas Judicial Branch. Rule 804 – Minimum Requirements

  • Newly admitted attorneys, until the start of the first full compliance period after admission. Admitted in March, you owe nothing for the remainder of the period ending June 30.
  • Attorneys registered as inactive, retired, or disabled with the appellate courts. Switching status requires formal registration.
  • Active or retired federal and state judges, justices, bankruptcy judges, and full-time U.S. District Court magistrates, as long as they aren’t practicing law. Federal and state administrative judges do not qualify.

The Board can also grant case-by-case exemptions for good cause, which typically covers serious illness or military deployment. If you’re returning from exempt status to active practice, confirm with OJA exactly when your CLE obligation resumes so you don’t start a compliance period already behind.