Committee reviews annual continuation of certain open-records exceptions

The Judiciary Committee received a summary and bill brief on House Bill 2166, the annual reviser-sponsored measure that continues specified exceptions to disclosure under the Kansas Open Records Act (CORA) that were due to expire.

Reviser staff explained the statutory process: when the Legislature creates an open-records exception it often includes an automatic five-year sunset provision requiring the Legislature to review and act on the exception. The reviser presented the packet of exceptions that were created in 2020 and asked the committee to consider whether to continue those exceptions. The packet included the text of the exceptions, an explanation of which records are affected, which entities are uniquely affected, and the public purposes the exceptions serve, as required by statute.

The reviser told the committee the 2020 legislative session produced only two exceptions that now require review because the 2020 session was abbreviated; she asked the committee to review and make the statutorily required findings or continue the exceptions. Committee members had no substantive questions during the briefing.

There was no committee action on House Bill 2166 during the meeting; the reviser characterized the bill as a routine, statutorily required submission the committee must consider each year.