The Kansas Open Records Act gives any person the right to inspect and copy records held by state and local government bodies in Kansas. You do not have to explain why you want them. The agency has three business days to respond, must cite a specific legal exemption if it refuses, and can be sued in district court for a wrongful denial — with attorney fees on the line if the denial was made without a reasonable basis. The statute lives at K.S.A. 45-215 through 45-230.
Who Has to Give You Records
The law reaches nearly every government body in Kansas. K.S.A. 45-217 defines “public agency” to include the state, every political and taxing subdivision, and any office or instrumentality of those entities.1Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Code 45-217 – Definitions Cities, counties, townships, school districts, and special districts all qualify, along with their officers acting in an official capacity.2Kansas Legislative Research Department. Kansas Open Records Act
The definition also captures entities that look private on the outside. Any organization that receives or spends public funds appropriated by the state or a local taxing subdivision counts as a public agency under KORA.1Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Code 45-217 – Definitions A regional authority handling water or transportation is held to the same standard as the governor’s office. Groups with no public funding and no government origin generally fall outside the statute.
What Counts as a Public Record
A public record is any recorded information, in any form and at any location, that a public agency or its officers or employees make, maintain, or keep in connection with official duties.1Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Code 45-217 – Definitions A memo, a spreadsheet, and a text message on a government-issued phone are all treated the same way.
Content controls, not storage. Records about public business are subject to KORA even when they sit on a personal device or in a private email account.2Kansas Legislative Research Department. Kansas Open Records Act An official cannot shield agency communications by routing them through a personal inbox. Purely personal messages sent on a public device are not public records.
How to Make a Request
K.S.A. 45-220 bars a public agency from asking for anything beyond your name, address, and enough detail to identify the records. You do not have to state a reason. The agency can ask you to put the request in writing but cannot impose a required form.3Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Code 45-220
Every public agency in Kansas must designate a local freedom of information officer. That officer prepares educational materials about KORA, helps resolve disputes, and responds to open-records inquiries.4Kansas Statutes. Kansas Code 45-226 – Local Freedom of Information Officer Send your request there if you can identify the office; otherwise, start with the agency’s records custodian.
Specificity saves time. A request for “all documents about Topic X” invites clarifying questions and delays. Where you can, include a date range, a report title, or the names of officials involved. State whether you want to inspect the records in person or receive copies, since the fee structure is different for each.
Response Time and Denials
K.S.A. 45-218 requires the agency to act on your request as soon as possible, and no later than the end of the third business day after receiving it.5Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Code 45-218 – Inspection of Records; Request; Response; Refusal, When; Fees The response can be the records themselves, or an explanation that more time is needed together with a specific date when they will be ready. Three business days is the deadline for the agency to act, not the deadline for delivery on every request.
If the agency denies your request, you can demand a written statement of the grounds. The agency must provide that statement by the end of the third business day after you ask, and it must cite the specific legal provision that justifies withholding the records.5Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Code 45-218 – Inspection of Records; Request; Response; Refusal, When; Fees A general “we can’t release that” is not a lawful denial. If no specific exemption is cited, say so; the demand alone often resolves the issue.
What It Costs
Agencies can charge fees, but the statute caps what counts as reasonable. Copy fees cannot exceed the actual cost of producing them, including staff time. For executive branch agencies, a charge of $0.25 per page or less is automatically deemed reasonable.6Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Code 45-219 – Copies of Public Records; Fees and Costs Legislative and judicial branch offices use their own fee schedules.
Staff time must be billed at the employee’s actual salary or hourly wage, without a flat markup and without benefits costs, and the agency has to use the lowest-cost employee reasonably able to handle the request. If the fees look wrong, you can ask for an itemized statement showing each hourly rate and other charges. For executive branch agencies, you can appeal the reasonableness of the fees to the Secretary of Administration, whose decision is final.6Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Code 45-219 – Copies of Public Records; Fees and Costs
When a request will take more than five hours of staff time, or the estimated cost tops $200, the agency has to make reasonable efforts to contact you and discuss ways to bring the cost down, such as narrowing the scope or accepting electronic copies. You don’t have to agree, but if you fail to respond within three business days, the request is treated as withdrawn until you get back in touch.6Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Code 45-219 – Copies of Public Records; Fees and Costs Agencies may also require payment in advance for larger jobs.
What the Agency Can Withhold
K.S.A. 45-221 lists more than fifty categories of records an agency does not have to disclose. The exemptions are discretionary: the agency can release exempt records if it wants to, but the law does not require it. When a record mixes open and closed material, the agency must redact the closed portions and release the rest.7Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Code 45-221 – Certain Records Not Required to Be Disclosed
The exemptions you are most likely to encounter fall into a few clusters. Personnel records covering performance ratings, individually identifiable employee files, and applicant materials can be withheld, but the names, positions, salaries, employment contracts, and lengths of service of public employees are always public once someone is hired. Medical, psychiatric, psychological, and substance abuse treatment records tied to identifiable patients are exempt. Criminal investigation records can be withheld, along with information that would reveal undercover agents or informants. Notes, preliminary drafts, and research data still being analyzed can be held back to protect the deliberative process. Software programs for electronic data processing are exempt, as are proprietary plans, designs, or drawings submitted by private parties. Security records for public buildings can be restricted when disclosure would jeopardize safety.7Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Code 45-221 – Certain Records Not Required to Be Disclosed
Limits on Using the Records
K.S.A. 45-230 prohibits using names and addresses obtained from public records to sell or offer to sell property or services to the people or businesses listed.8Attorney General of Kansas. Frequently Asked Questions about the Kansas Open Records Act The ban targets soliciting sales; it does not forbid every commercial use. Buying property from people on a list is allowed, and the statute carves out contact for educational or professional training purposes. Churches and ministers may use lists to share information about area churches. If a record is subject to this restriction, the agency may require you to certify in writing that you will not use it for prohibited solicitation before it hands anything over.3Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Code 45-220 Violating the ban carries a civil penalty of up to $500 per offense.
Suing Over a Denial
If the agency refuses and you believe the refusal is wrong, your remedy under K.S.A. 45-222 is a civil lawsuit in district court. There is no administrative appeal to exhaust first. The court can order the records released and can review them in camera to decide whether an exemption actually applies.
Fees are the leverage. If the court finds the denial was not made in good faith and lacked a reasonable basis in fact or law, it must award you costs and reasonable attorney fees, assessed against the agency responsible for the violation. The same rule cuts the other way: a KORA suit a court finds was filed without good faith and without a reasonable basis exposes the requester to the agency’s attorney fees.9Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Code 45-222 Confirm the denial looks improper before filing.
Enforcement is not limited to private requesters. The Attorney General or a county or district attorney can sue any public agency that knowingly violates the Act or intentionally fails to furnish records, and a court can impose a civil penalty of up to $500 for each violation.10FindLaw. Kansas Code 45-223 Between private suits and prosecutor enforcement, an agency that stonewalls faces exposure on two fronts.