1.  Pretrial.  (a) If the defendant appears on the date specified in the summons and disputes the petition, the court may set the case for a pretrial hearing which shall be held as soon as is reasonably practical.  All parties shall be notified of the date, time and place for the pretrial hearing.
(b) After a case has been set for pretrial, each of the parties shall submit to the other party before the date scheduled for the pretrial hearing, copies of all documents which support the petition or answer and an identification of all witnesses who will testify at trial to support the same.
(c) If the defendant fails to appear at the pretrial hearing, the court may enter default judgment against the defendant for the relief demanded in the petition without further notice.  If the plaintiff fails to appear at the pretrial hearing, the court may dismiss the lawsuit.
(d) If both parties appear at the pretrial hearing, the court shall conduct a conference with the parties to clarify the issues for trial and explore the possibilities of settlement. If the defendant does not have a legal defense to the petition, or if judgment would be entered against the defendant as a matter of law if the matter were to proceed to trial, the court may enter judgment against the defendant for the relief demanded in the petition or for such other relief that the court believes is fair and just.  If the plaintiff has not stated a claim upon which relief can be granted, the court may dismiss the petition.

Comment

Current law does not provide a pretrial procedure.  K.S.A. 61-1714 allows for a settlement conference.  An optional pretrial procedure has been added to allow the court to conduct a conference with the parties to clarify the issues for trial and explore the possibilities of settlement.  If the defendant does not appear at the pretrial or appears but does not have a valid legal defense, the court may enter judgment against the defendant.  If the plaintiff does not appear at the pretrial or appears but has not stated a claim upon which relief can be granted, the court may dismiss the petition.

2.  Trial.  (a) If a case is not settled or otherwise disposed of at the pretrial hearing, the case shall be set for trial by the court.
(b) All lawsuits filed under this act shall be tried by the court, unless a trial by jury is demanded by one of the parties. Demand for jury trial shall be filed as a part of the petition or answer.
(c)  A lawsuit tried by jury pursuant to this chapter shall be tried to a jury composed of 6 persons having the same qualifications of jurors as other jurors in district court, unless the parties agree on a lesser number. The court shall summon not less than 12 prospective jurors from the source and in the manner provided for the summoning of petit jurors in the district court.  When there is more than one plaintiff or more than one defendant in said action, the court shall summon 3 additional prospective jurors for each such additional plaintiff or defendant.  Each juror shall be paid as specified in K.S.A. 43-171 for each day of attendance and shall receive mileage at the rate prescribed in K.S.A. 75-3203.  Such jury fees shall be paid by the county.  The provisions of K.S.A. 60-247, subsections (b) through (h), inclusive, of K.S.A. 60-248 and K.S.A. 60-250 and 60-251 shall be applicable to actions pursuant to this chapter insofar as they are not inconsistent with the provisions of this act.
(d) In all trials pursuant to this chapter, the testimony of witnesses shall be taken orally in open court, unless otherwise provided by this act.  All matters relating to witnesses and the admission of evidence shall be governed by article 4 of chapter 60 of the Kansas Statutes Annotated, and amendments thereto. 

Comment

This is the same as K.S.A. 61-1716 and 61-1718.