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Committee staff reviews Kansas Open Meetings and Open Records Acts, highlights notice rules and livestreaming guidance
Summary
A staff briefing explained that legislative committees receiving public funds are subject to the Kansas Open Meetings Act and Open Records Act, that notice is required upon request, and that House Bill 2134 added a livestreaming provision with an exception for unintentional technical glitches.
Jill, a committee staff presenter, briefed members on the Kansas Open Meetings Act and the Kansas Open Records Act, telling the Committee on Higher Education Budget that these laws generally apply to legislative bodies supported by public funds and that the committee is subject to those statutes.
Jill emphasized practical rules: meetings must be open to the public, notice must be provided "if requested" (the statute does not set a strict time frame), and serial communications among a majority of members can constitute a meeting. She pointed to a change enacted in House Bill 2134 that requires public bodies that voluntarily livestream meetings to ensure the stream makes "all aspects are available through this medium," but said an unintentional IT glitch does not automatically create a statutory violation: "if there's an IT glitch ... that that the chairperson is not under control of, that does not constitute a violation of this." (Jill).
Committee members asked procedural questions. Representative Haskins asked how "proper notice" is defined; Jill replied notice must be requested and can be provided orally or in writing and there is no statutory minimum time period. Jill described a web portal the revisers maintain that members of the public can sign up for to receive meeting notices.
Jill also summarized Open Records Act practice: requests must be acknowledged within three days by the custodian of records, but members' individual records are not public records. She noted civil fines (up to $500 per violation) and potential training requirements when violations occur.
The review was presented as informational; committee members accepted the overview and moved to budget business.
