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Sedgwick County legal team briefs commissioners on Kansas open meetings law
Summary
County legal staff told commissioners that KOMA applies whenever a majority discusses county business, including serial electronic communications; presenters emphasized narrow exceptions and the need for careful notice and recordkeeping.
Justin Wagner, Sedgwick County counselor, and Deputy District Attorney Aaron Bridal gave commissioners a refresher on the Kansas Open Meetings Act (KOMA), telling the Board that a “meeting” occurs when three or more members gather in person or by interactive communication to discuss county business. Wagner said the statute dating back to KSA 19-218 undergirds the requirement that governing-body actions occur openly and that exceptions be narrowly construed.
They warned commissioners that KOMA doesn’t require a binding vote for the law to apply: “A meeting is defined as any gathering or assembly in person or through the use of a telephone or any other medium for interactive communication,” Wagner said. The presenters emphasized that serial or repeated interactive communications among a majority — including email reply-all threads and social-media comment threads — can amount to a meeting if the discussion concerns the body’s business and there is intent to reach agreement.
Wagner reviewed common exceptions that may justify an executive session (personnel, attorney–client consultation, preliminary real-property acquisition, security measures) and stressed that executive sessions cannot host binding votes and must be narrowly tailored with motion language explaining the basis for closure. Bridal added that executive-session remedies are fact-dependent and that enforcement typically aims first at reeducation rather than punitive measures.
