The Kansas military affidavit

How Kansas handles it

Kansas has a statewide form, and a recent one. The Kansas Judicial Council posts the Affidavit of Defendant's Military Status on its own page under Chapter 60 Civil Actions, as a Word file and a PDF, both dated 11-2024; the footer of the Word version reads 11/2024. Directly under the title the form cites 50 U.S.C. § 3931(b)(1), the federal subsection it exists to satisfy. Its caption leaves the county blank and names no division, so one document covers every district court in the state.

It asks two questions, each with checkboxes. First, your answer: you have personal knowledge the defendant is in military service; you have personal knowledge the defendant is not; you are unable to determine whether the defendant is; or the defendant has waived, in writing, rights under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act and that waiver is attached. Second, your basis: either you searched the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act website at scra.dmdc.osd.mil using the defendant's name and date of birth and attached the results, or you did not use that website and you explain, on six blank lines, how you know or what steps you took to find out. Between the two questions the form prints its own summary of the definition of military service, cited to 50 U.S.C. § 3911(2), which includes National Guard service under a call to active service authorized by the President or the Secretary of Defense for more than 30 consecutive days to respond to a national emergency. Its branch list is out of date: it stops at the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard, but a December 22, 2023 amendment added the Space Force to § 3911(2), so a Guardian on active duty is in military service even though this November 2024 form never names the branch.

A Kansas suit on an unsecured contract debt can be filed under Chapter 61 whatever its size, and K.S.A. 61-2801 says the act codified there may be cited as the code of civil procedure for limited actions. K.S.A. 61-2802(a)(1) lets that code govern a suit on an unsecured debt arising from a contract for goods, services or money "without limitation as to the amount claimed," and the Kansas Judicial Branch's consumer debt self-help page links straight to the Chapter 61 forms and the Chapter 61 answer. Under K.S.A. 61-3301(a)(1), judgment may be entered against a defendant who neither appears nor files a written answer by the time in the summons, on proof of service and whenever the plaintiff asks, without further notice. The Judicial Council files its military form under Chapter 60 only, and its Chapter 61 petition for unsecured contractual debt (rev. 02/2022) has no military line. Nothing on the affidavit's face ties it to Chapter 60, so it is the statewide form to bring to a limited actions docket.

Chapter 60 cases add notice steps. K.S.A. 60-255(a) says the court must render judgment on request and a showing of entitlement, but a defendant who appeared personally or through a representative gets written notice of the request at least seven days before the hearing. Kansas Supreme Court Rule 118(d) adds a 14-day notice, by return receipt delivery or as the court orders, of the dollar amount you will take judgment for whenever the petition pleaded damages only as more than $75,000. Supreme Court Rule 132 lets any court require the party or the party's attorney to present a default request in person.

Evictions move fastest, and the eviction forms never raise the question. The Judicial Council's nonpayment of rent packet, read October 10, 2026, includes instructions revised 11-2025, a petition (02/2023), a summons (01/2025) and a journal entry (07/2023), and none of them mentions military service; the journal entry simply offers a Default checkbox. The instructions say the clerk sets the first hearing at least three and no more than 14 days after the case is filed. A landlord who expects an empty chair at that hearing needs the status search and this affidavit finished before it starts.

What trips filers up here

• Rule 705 of the 24th Judicial District (Edwards, Hodgeman, Lane, Ness, Pawnee and Rush counties) bars a default judgment until the party seeking it files an affidavit on whether the adverse party is in active military service, and requires a party who cannot tell after a good faith investigation to file an "Affidavit of Inability to Determine Military Service." Shawnee County's DCR 3.121, adopted May 5, 2004, uses nearly identical words and names the same second affidavit. The statewide form treats that situation as one checkbox, so in those courts ask the clerk whether the checked box is enough or a separately titled affidavit is expected. No other district rule searched on October 10, 2026 had a military provision, but eight districts post their rules as scanned images that could not be searched and six were not reached, so check your own district's local rules too.
• The form is drafted for one signer. It reads "I am the plaintiff in this case" and the only signature line is labeled Signature of Plaintiff. A lawyer, or an employee signing for a company that is the plaintiff, has no line of their own and must adjust that language rather than sign as though they were the plaintiff personally.
• A plaintiff signing outside Kansas should change one phrase. The form's closing sentence follows the in-state wording in K.S.A. 53-601(a)(2). For a declaration executed outside the state, 53-601(a)(1) prints "under penalty of perjury under the laws of the state of Kansas," and adding those words costs nothing.
• The waiver box is narrower than it looks. Under 50 U.S.C. § 3918(a) and (b), a waiver that reaches the modification or termination of a contract or lease, or the repossession or foreclosure of property, counts only if it is a written instrument separate from the obligation, executed during or after the servicemember's period of military service. Attach that instrument, not the loan agreement.
• Sedgwick County puts a clock on the paperwork. The 18th Judicial District's Local Court Rule 205(b) requires a journal entry of judgment to be submitted within 21 days of a default, and a case not journalized in that window is administratively dismissed without prejudice. The affidavit has to be on file before that judgment, so run the status search early rather than starting it after the default.

Signing it: declaration, no notary

There is no notary block. The form ends "I declare under penalty of perjury that the information provided in this Affidavit is true and correct," over lines for the Signature of Plaintiff and the Date. K.S.A. 53-601 gives an unsworn declaration in that form the same force as a sworn affidavit. Both of its model versions end "Executed on (date)," and the one for a declaration signed outside Kansas reads "under penalty of perjury under the laws of the state of Kansas."

No notary is needed. The signature block is an unsworn declaration under penalty of perjury, which is what 50 U.S.C. § 3931(b)(4) expressly allows. Signing it knowing the military statement is false is still a federal crime, and a state perjury exposure on top.

Getting the military-status answer right

The affidavit is only as good as the search behind it. The Defense Manpower Data Center runs the free lookup that courts and creditors rely on, and since 2026 it requires a free account even for a single record. Our guide to the DMDC SCRA website covers the search itself, what a "no information found" result does and does not prove, and the batch route for high-volume filers. The federal rules behind this form, including what happens when you genuinely cannot determine status, sit on the hub page.

If one was filed against you

A false affidavit is not a technicality. In May 2026 the Justice Department settled with a Florida property manager that swore a Navy sailor was not on active duty, took a default eviction judgment, and left him with an eviction on his record that a dozen landlords then refused to rent around: $60,000 to one servicemember plus a civil penalty . If a default judgment was entered against you while you were serving, it can be reopened; the default-judgment shield walks the deadlines.

Serving in Kansas and looking for what the state adds to your own protections rather than court procedure? That is a different page: Kansas SCRA benefits.