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SB 168

Requiring the director of legislative administrative services to remove legislative video recordings from cloud based servers and video on demand platforms after 10 years.

2025-2026 Regular Session

Kansas SB 168 mandates deletion of legislative video recordings from cloud platforms after 10 years, potentially limiting permanent public access to government proceedings.

Died in Committee
#informationtechnology #legislature
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Bill Summary · SB 168

Legislative bill overview

SB 168 requires Kansas's director of legislative administrative services to delete legislative video recordings from cloud-based servers and video-on-demand platforms after 10 years. The bill establishes a mandatory retention period followed by mandatory deletion of these public records.

Why is this important

Legislative recordings serve as historical records of government proceedings and are valuable resources for transparency, research, and civic engagement. This bill directly impacts public access to the legislative record and raises questions about document preservation standards, cloud storage costs, and what "10 years" means practically for records that should theoretically be permanent.

Potential points of contention

  • Public access and transparency: Deleting public legislative records conflicts with principles of government transparency and permanent public record retention; citizens lose access to their own government's proceedings
  • Technical and cost implications: The bill doesn't clarify whether recordings must be preserved elsewhere (physical archives, alternative formats) before deletion, potentially creating ambiguity about actual preservation
  • Definition and scope: "Legislative video recordings" isn't precisely defined—unclear whether this includes committee meetings, floor sessions, hearings, or all legislative recordings; the 10-year window is arbitrary without justification
  • Cloud storage costs: If the primary motivation is reducing cloud storage expenses, the bill doesn't address whether alternative preservation methods are more cost-effective or practical

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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