Prohibiting fees for electronic copies of records under the open records act, exempting from disclosure formally closed investigations with no found violations, requiring county or district attorneys to file reports of violations with the attorney general in October instead of January, determining the membership calculation of subordinate groups under the open meetings act, requiring public bodies or agencies that live stream meetings to ensure that the public is able to observe and providing for a five minute deviation to resume an open meeting at the conclusion of executive sessions.

2025-2026 Regular Session

Kansas bill restricts public investigation records while eliminating record copy fees, expediting violation reports, and requiring accessible livestreamed government meetings.

Stricken from Calendar by Rule 1507

Legislative bill overview

SB 70 modifies Kansas's open records and open meetings laws across multiple dimensions: it eliminates fees for electronic record copies, shields closed investigations with no violations from disclosure, shifts the timing of attorney general violation reports from January to October, clarifies how subordinate groups are counted under open meetings rules, and requires livestreamed meetings to remain publicly observable with a five-minute grace period for resuming after executive sessions.

Why is this important

These changes directly affect government transparency and public access to information. While some provisions strengthen transparency (livestream requirements, faster violation reporting), others restrict it (investigation secrecy), creating trade-offs in how much government information citizens can access and how quickly violations are reported to oversight authorities.

Potential points of contention

Investigation secrecy exemption: Shielding closed investigations with no violations may prevent public awareness of government misconduct allegations, even if ultimately unfounded, raising concerns about accountability versus privacy

Electronic record fee elimination: While improving access equity, eliminating all fees could strain small government budgets already managing record requests, or create incentives for overwhelming requests

Report timing shift: Moving violation reports to October instead of January compresses the reporting window and changes when the public receives accountability information, potentially affecting election-year transparency

Subordinate group membership calculation: The ambiguous "membership calculation" language could be subject to interpretation disputes about which entities must follow open meetings rules

Livestream implementation burden: Requiring livestream capability and maintaining accessibility may impose technical and financial costs on smaller municipalities and districts