Before being allowed to practice law in the state of Kansas, a lawyer must first be admitted to the state bar. The most common method used to determine if an aspiring lawyer is qualified to practice is the Bar Exam. In Kansas, the Bar Exam is offered biannually by the Kansas Judicial Branch and may be taken by recent law school graduates. Out of state attorneys may be eligible for on-motion admission based on their experience or scores from a Bar exam taken in another state. Kansas uses the Universal Bar Exam format.
| Exam Dates: | Feb 21-22, 2023 & July 25-26 2023 |
| Exam Type: | Uniform Bar Exam |
| Location: | Topeka, KS |
| Application Fee: | $700 |
| On-Motion Application Fee: | $1250 |
| Filing Deadline: | October 1, 2022 |
| Late Filing Deadline: | November 1, 2022 |
| Late Fee: | $200 |
The first the Kansas State Bar exam of 2023 will be held on February 21st and 22nd. The exam will also be administered during the last week in July. Applicants wishing to take the February exam must register by October 1st of 2022 in order to avoid a late fee. The exam is conducted using the Multistate Uniform Bar Exam created by the National Conference of Bar Examiners .
Over the course of the two-day exam, applicants must complete three sections of the exam. These include a multiple-choice exam, essay questions, and a practical performance test.
The specific location of the Kansas Bar Exam for 2021 has not yet been announced. It will be held in the Topeka, Kansas area and applicants will be notified of the location upon successful registration for the exam.
For registrants who submit their application and the required paperwork before the October 1st registration deadline, the fee to sit for the Kansas Bar Exam is $700. After the deadline, late applications are accepted until November 1, 2022, and are subject to a $200 late fee.
Some of the subjects that will be tested over the course of the two-day bar exam include family law, torts, real property, constitutional law and evidence, criminal procedure, business associations, civil procedure, conflict of laws, criminal law, trusts and estates, and contract law.
The Kansas Judicial Branch has adopted the Multistate Universal Bar Exam format. Created and administered twice a year by the National Conference of Bar Examiners, the UBE consists of three sections, each making up a different percentage of the final score. The three components are a multiple-choice exam called the Multistate Bar Exam (MBE), the Multistate Performance Test (MPT), and the Multistate Essay Exam (MEE).
A scaled score of at least 80 on the Multistate Professional Readiness Exam (MPRE) is required in order to be admitted to the Kansas Bar Association.
Each component of the Kansas Bar Exam carries a different amount of weight towards an applicant’s final score. The MBE is the most heavily weighted section, accounting for 50% of the final score. The MEE makes up 30% and the MPT is counted as 20% of the final.
Exam takers can expect to receive scores for the February Exam by mid-April. Results for the July exam will be released in mid-September. The results are delivered by mail.
Applicants with qualifying UBE scores from other states within the past two years can apply for admission to the Kansas Bar without being required to take the test again.
Kansas allows attornies from 35 US states to apply for reciprocal membership to Kansas. The full list of states allowed can be found on the Kansas Judicial Branch website. The fee for on motion admission to the Kansas State Bar is $1250.
The Kansas Board of Law Examiners can be reached by phone at 785-296-8410, or by email at admissions@kscourts.org.