Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt has issued a formal legal opinion addressing whether a state law that authorizes criminal prosecution of Kansans who violate emergency orders issued by the governor is constitutional and enforceable. The opinion is a consolidated response to separate requests for the attorney general’s legal opinion on closely related subjects from Reno County District Attorney Keith Schroeder, State Senator Richard Hilderbrand, and State Representatives Tory Marie Arnberger, Renee Erickson, Susan Humphries, Brenda Landwehr, Barbara Wasinger and Kristey Williams. The Opinion notes that the Kansas Emergency Management Act (KEMA) places on the governor responsibility to respond to disasters and grants broad authority to do so. Because of the nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of emergency powers has been unprecedented since the KEMA was enacted in 1975, with 31 emergency orders issued by the governor in the past 10 weeks. The Opinion does not address federal, state or local emergency authority outside the KEMA.
(Read more: Kansas Attorney General News Releases)
