A Kansas Senate panel considered Monday how best to proceed with amending the state’s open records act to increase transparency without triggering unintended consequences and placing an undue burden on municipalities. Senate Bill 386 would limit fees for copying and providing records, including the cost of staff time, under the Kansas Open Records Act to the lowest hourly rate of the person qualified to provide the records. The bill would also ensure no fee is charged if a search determines the record does not exist. It would also give the record custodian the discretion to waive any fee should it be in the public interest to do so. Emily Bradbury, executive director of the Kansas Press Association, pointed to a 2020 incident following a series of personnel firings in Frontenac where the city attorney wanted to charge $3,500 for records without explanation of how he arrived at that figure.
Source: The Arkansas City Traveler
