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Kansas judicial branch staff members provide insight into grant funding ...

TOPEKA—Stephanie Bunten and Shawn Jurgensen will represent the Kansas judicial branch during the National Center for State Courts webinar on seeking grant funding from the American Rescue Plan Act.

Bunten is one of six panelists and Jurgensen will moderate.

Bunten is the judicial administrator and Jurgensen is special counsel to the chief justice for the Kansas judicial branch.

The American Rescue Plan Act was signed into law March 11, 2021, and it provides $350 billion in additional funding for state and local governments. This funding can be used to update technology, enhance court processes, and modernize court systems.

During the webinar, court financial managers and administrators will reflect on past grant-funded projects and brainstorm ideas for future applications.

“The National Center for State Courts provides us the invaluable opportunity to collaborate with other states and build upon their ideas to continuously improve court operations,” Bunten said. “Many of the projects we are implementing in Kansas started after a discussion with one of my colleagues in another state court system.”

Over the past 18 months, the Kansas judicial branch has received over $5 million in grant funds to create access to court services during the COVID-19 pandemic and help with pandemic-related expenses. These grants expedited the modernization of the Kansas judicial branch by funding remote technology equipment, public access computer terminals, the Kansas Protection Order Portal, and an online marriage license application.

Bunten and other panelists will discuss strategies for building successful project proposals that meet both the courts needs and the American Rescue Plan Act requirements, such as achieving efficient and streamlined court processes, harnessing innovation, and expanding technology capacity.

“Kansas has been able to harness advances in technology to modernize court operations and efficiently deliver timely access to justice in the face of the pandemic, and I look forward to sharing these experiences,” Bunten said.

The panel includes staff from the Indiana Supreme Court and judicial branches in  Minnesota, Nevada, and Arkansas.

“The members of this panel are some of the most innovative leaders in state court systems across the country,” Jurgensen said. “They have identified opportunities for improved access to justice, tailored their state’s grant requests to address those needs, and they want to help other states address these same opportunities head-on.”

The National Center of State Courts webinar is at 1:30 p.m. Thursday, November 18.