Topeka, Kansas
Topeka Social Security Disability Lawyers for SSDI and SSI Claims
Topeka is home to one of Kansas's two Social Security hearing offices, at Suite A, 3712 SW Burlingame, and its field office list serves an area from Manhattan east to Lawrence, Johnson County and Kansas City, Kansas. Social Security's office locator assigns Topeka ZIP codes to the Topeka field office at 600 SW Commerce Pl, which takes applications and other field office business; hearings are a separate office.
Downard & Associates represents adults in Topeka, Lawrence, Manhattan and the rest of Kansas in Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) claims. We handle the application, reconsideration, the hearing and Appeals Council review by phone or video from Lebanon, Tennessee, and there is no fee unless you win.
How we help
What Our Disability Attorneys Handle for Topeka Clients
An SSDI claim depends on your own earnings record, and an SSI claim depends on need, measured by income and countable resources. The adult disability definition is the same in both programs, and the appeal steps and deadlines come from federal regulations, so they are the same in Shawnee County as in any other county. Our Kansas disability lawyer page describes the state as a whole.
We do not keep an office in Topeka; consultations are held by phone or video, and our attorneys handle hearings from Tennessee by phone or video. Our clients are adults age 18 and older. We take SSDI cases for VA benefit recipients but do not handle VA claims or VA appeals, continuing disability review or cessation cases, or cases about back pay alone, and federal court appeals go to affiliated counsel.
Hearing office
The Six Field Offices on the Topeka Hearing Office List
The data behind Social Security's hearing office locator lists six Kansas field offices for the Topeka hearing office: Emporia, Johnson County, Kansas City Kansas (KcK), Lawrence, Manhattan and Topeka. Most other Kansas field offices are on the Wichita hearing office's list, which names Dodge City, Hays, Hutchinson, Independence, Salina and Wichita, and some border ZIP codes, such as Atchison, Hiawatha, Pittsburg and Fort Scott, are assigned to Missouri field offices instead, so check your own ZIP code. Wichita is covered on our Wichita disability lawyer page.
Emporia is a special case. The hearing office list still names an Emporia field office, and the locator shows an Emporia resident station at 3010 W 18th Ave among nearby offices, but it assigns Emporia's ZIP code, 66801, to the Topeka field office. Both sit on the Topeka list either way. Johnson County and Kansas City, Kansas ZIP codes are on our Overland Park disability lawyer page.
Social Security's operations manual says hearing office jurisdiction is determined by the claimant's residence address, though you can ask, in a signed statement giving your reasons, to have a case transferred, and Social Security decides whether to do it. Social Security's hearings manual also lets it reassign some cases to another hearing office to relieve a temporary workload imbalance or increase productivity, only when the other office can hear and decide them more quickly. Such a reassignment generally does not happen when you have objected in writing on time to both a phone hearing and an agency video hearing, have not agreed to online video, and have not changed your residence, and Social Security generally still honors a timely written objection after a move if doing so causes no added delay and there is no other reason to schedule the hearing another way. When a case is reassigned for these reasons, the office that receives it notifies you and your representative. Our hearing office directory lists every office with its field offices. For an in-person or agency video hearing, the Notice of Hearing names the place, so go by that notice for your own case.
Field offices and zip codes
Topeka, Lawrence and Manhattan Field Offices by ZIP Code
Social Security's office locator matches ZIP codes to field offices, not counties, so treat the place names here as a rough guide. This is a partial list and the locator is updated from time to time; look up your own ZIP code to be sure.
Topeka, 600 SW Commerce Pl: 66603 through 66612, 66614 and 66617 through 66619 (Topeka); and 66801 (Emporia).
Lawrence, Ste 200, 1440 Wakarusa: 66044, 66046, 66047 and 66049 (Lawrence); 66006 (Baldwin City); 66025 (Eudora); 66067 (Ottawa); 66092 (Wellsville); 66076 (Pomona); and, in Miami County, 66071 (Paola), 66053 (Louisburg) and 66064 (Osawatomie).
Manhattan, Ste A, 1121 Hudson Ave: 66502 and 66503 (Manhattan); and 66441 (Junction City).
All three field offices are on the Topeka hearing office's list, so a hearing request from these ZIP codes generally goes to the hearing office on SW Burlingame.
Local treatment records
Records From Stormont Vail and the Colmery-O'Neil VA Medical Center
Once you give permission, Social Security asks your medical sources for records: under 20 CFR 404.1512(b)(1) (416.912(b)(1) for SSI), that means an initial request to each source and, if nothing arrives, one follow-up request 10 to 20 calendar days later. You are still responsible for telling it about or submitting all evidence you know of, so keep your own provider list and copies.
Stormont Vail Health: Stormont Vail's authorization form lists Release of Information at 1500 SW 10th St., Topeka, KS 66604, phone 785-354-6816, fax 785-354-4268, email MedicalRecordRequest@stormontvail.org, and the Flint Hills Campus office at 1102 St. Mary's Road, MAB 2, Junction City, phone 785-579-4433. It says records are released electronically when possible, photo ID is required for pickup, and a reasonable fee may be charged as allowed by HIPAA.
VA Eastern Kansas (Topeka): the VA's medical records office page lists a Release of Information office at the Colmery-O'Neil VA Medical Center, Building 1, Room A104, 2200 SW Gage Boulevard, open weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Signed copies of VA Form 10-5345a, the request for a copy of your own records, go by mail to 2200 SW Gage Blvd, Topeka, KS 66622, and the page says requests may take up to 20 business days to process.
Hearings and deadlines
Hearing Format and Appeal Deadlines for a Topeka Disability Claim
To object in writing to a phone or agency video hearing, after you receive the Notice of Ways to Attend a Hearing
30days
20 CFR 404.936(d), 416.1436(d)
After a hearing request, Social Security sends a Notice of Ways to Attend a Hearing, and its ways to attend page lists four: in person or by agency video at one of its offices, and by phone or online video from a private location you choose. Under 20 CFR 404.936 and, for SSI, 20 CFR 416.1436, an objection to a phone hearing, an agency video hearing, or both must be made in writing within 30 days after you receive that notice. If you do not object, Social Security can schedule a phone or agency video hearing, though it can also schedule you in person or, if you agree, by online video; if you object to only one of those two formats, it can schedule you in person, by the other format, or by online video if you agree, and if you object to both, it generally schedules you in person or, if you agree, by online video. Online video is used only if you agree to it in writing, and a late objection or agreement needs good cause. If you move while the hearing request is pending, Social Security decides how you appear and can schedule a phone or agency video hearing despite an objection, though it considers the move only if you send evidence of your new residence; it can also use a phone hearing in a few other situations the rule lists. Our guide to hearing formats explains each choice and when Social Security moves a case to another office, and our disability hearings page describes the hearing itself.
A reconsideration request is due in writing within 60 days after you receive a denial, under 20 CFR 404.909 for SSDI and 20 CFR 416.1409 for SSI, and a hearing request after a reconsideration denial has its own 60 days under 20 CFR 404.933 and 20 CFR 416.1433. Social Security treats a notice as received 5 days after the date on the notice unless you show it came later, under 20 CFR 404.901 and 20 CFR 416.1401. A late request needs a written request for more time and good cause, so call us the week a denial arrives.
Common questions
Topeka, Lawrence and Manhattan Disability Claim Questions
Is the Topeka hearing office at the Commerce Place Social Security office?
No. Social Security's hearing office data gives the hearing office as Suite A, 3712 SW Burlingame, and the locator puts the Topeka field office at 600 SW Commerce Pl. If your hearing is in person or by agency video, the Notice of Hearing names the place.
Does Emporia have its own field office in the locator?
Not as the assigned office. The hearing office list still names an Emporia field office, but the locator assigns Emporia's ZIP code, 66801, to the Topeka field office at 600 SW Commerce Pl, even though it also lists an Emporia resident station nearby. Search your own address at ssa.gov/locator to confirm.
Does a Junction City claim go to the Topeka hearing office?
Generally yes. The locator assigns Junction City (66441) to the Manhattan field office, and Manhattan is on the Topeka hearing office's list.
Do Lawrence and Ottawa claims share a field office?
Yes. The locator assigns Lawrence, Eudora, Baldwin City and Ottawa ZIP codes to the Lawrence field office at Ste 200, 1440 Wakarusa, along with Paola, Louisburg and Osawatomie in Miami County.
Discuss your claim
Start a Topeka Claim Review by Phone or Video
Phone (615) 255-4307 or fill out the free review form, and expect a response within 3 business hours. Have your Social Security letters and the dates they came, plus the names of the hospitals, clinics and doctors that have treated you.