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Bucklin officials sign consent order with Kansas AG, complete required KOMA training
Summary
The City of Bucklin and its mayor and five councilmembers consented to an Attorney General order resolving an alleged June 10, 2025 KOMA violation and attended a one-hour Kansas Open Meetings Act training on Oct. 15, 2025, attesting to compliance with the order's training requirement.
Bucklin city officials agreed to a consent order with the Kansas Attorney General addressing an alleged violation of the Kansas Open Meetings Act and completed a one-hour training on the law during a special City Council session on Oct. 15, 2025.
In a consent order filed Sept. 3, 2025 (Case No. 2025-OG-0005), the Office of the Kansas Attorney General found that on June 10, 2025 the mayor and a majority of the Bucklin City Council engaged in a text-message exchange to discuss city business and took binding action in a manner that violated K.S.A. 75-4318. The order lists Mayor Cody Warden and councilmembers Justin Engel, Liz Albert, Noel Stiles, Kerry Christian and Nichole Pearce as respondents. It states the respondents “admit and agree” that the conduct violated the KOMA and sets conditions to resolve the matter.
Under the consent order, each named respondent agreed to pay a $50 civil penalty and to obtain at least one hour of training on the KOMA from an attorney experienced with open-meetings issues. The order requires proof of completion be filed with the Attorney General’s Office and warns that future violations could prompt further enforcement. The consent order text and signature pages are part of the meeting packet and record.
At the Oct. 15 special session, City Attorney Kevin Salzman provided the KOMA training required by the Attorney General’s Office. Councilmembers and the mayor signed an attestation stating: “I do hereby attest that I attended a one-hour presentation on the Kansas Open Meetings Act (KOMA) presented by Kevin Salzman … on October 15, 2025, beginning at 5:30 p.m., and remained present and engaged for the entire period.” The attestation appears in the meeting record and was signed by Mayor Warden and each councilmember present.
The meeting agenda also listed consideration of entering executive session to discuss personnel matters of non-elected personnel; the transcript notes the agenda item but does not record any substantive details or a formal vote on that item.
The special session was called to order at 5:30 p.m. at Bucklin City Hall by Mayor Cody Warden. The meeting adjourned at 6:35 p.m. after a motion by Councilmember Justin Engel, seconded by Councilmember Noel Stiles, which passed 5-0.
The consent order cites K.S.A. 75-4317 et seq. (the KOMA) and K.S.A. 75-4320d as the Attorney General’s enforcement authority; it also describes remedial steps (civil penalties and required training) and notes that future violations could lead to additional enforcement. The city’s attestation of training was included in the record and, according to the order’s timetable, satisfies the one-hour training requirement ordered by the Attorney General.
