Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt today provided law enforcement agencies and county prosecutors statewide with legal guidance to assist in performing their duties while emergency declarations related to the COVID-19 pandemic are in effect.
The guidance, in the form of a memorandum, has been produced by the Attorney General’s Office in response to questions from law enforcement agencies and officials about their duties and authorities arising from emergency orders issued by federal, state and local officials. The memorandum explains the legal framework of the different emergency authorities and describes how they may interact. In particular, it provides guidance for law enforcement agencies on their role in enforcing emergency orders from the federal government, the governor, local mayors or county commissions, and state and local health departments. In some local jurisdictions, as many as six separate emergency authorities may have been invoked and be in effect concurrently.
A copy of the attorney general’s memorandum for law enforcement and prosecutors is available at https://bit.ly/2WEkbIQ.
(Read more: Kansas Attorney General News Releases)