[Name of Records Custodian]
[Name of Public Agency]
[Street Address]
[City, ST ZIP Code]
[email address]
Dear [Records Custodian]:
I hereby submit this request under the Kansas Open Records Act (KORA) for copies of the following:
[Insert description of records sought]
As you know, “[a]ll public records shall be open for inspection by any person, except as otherwise provided by this act.” K.S.A. 45-218(a). Moreover, it is the public policy of the state of Kansas that “public records shall be open for inspection by any person unless otherwise provided by this act, and this act shall be liberally construed and applied to promote such policy.” K.S.A. 45-216(a). If a record subject to this request “contains material which is not subject to disclosure” under KORA, you are required to “separate or delete such material and make available” the “material in the public record that is subject to disclosure.” K.S.A. 45-221(d).
KORA requires that this request be acted upon as soon as possible, but in any event “not later than the end of the third business day following the date that you receive the request.” K.S.A. 45-218(d). If access to the requested record or records is not granted immediately, KORA requires you “to give a detailed explanation of the cause for further delay and the place and earliest time and date that the record will be available for inspection.” K.S.A. 45-218(d).
If there is a cost associated with meeting this open request under K.S.A. 45-219, please indicate the approximate cost. If electronic copies of the requested record or records are available, I request that you provide electronic copies only under Roe v. Phillips Cnty. Hosp., HN 4, 317 Kan. 1 (2023) (“KORA requires a public agency, upon request, to provide a copy of a public record in the format in which it maintains that record.”).
If this request is denied, KORA requires that you provide me with “a written statement of the grounds for denial. Such statement shall cite the specific provision of law under which access is denied.” K.S.A. 45-218(d). In the event of denial, I hereby request that this “statement” be furnished to me “no later than the end of the third business day following the date that the request for the statement is received.” K.S.A. 45-218(d). Moreover, if a public record subject to this request is discretionarily closed pursuant to K.S.A. 45-221(a)(10), I hereby request that you provide a written citation to the specific provisions of paragraphs (A) through (F) that necessitate closure of that public record.
In the event any record or records are disclosed as a result of this request, I certify, in accordance with K.S.A. 45-220(c)(2), that I do not intend to, and will not: “(A) Use any list of names or addresses contained in or derived from the records or information for the purpose of selling or offering for sale any property or service to any person listed or to any person who resides at any address listed; or (B) sell, give or otherwise make available to any person any list of names or addresses contained in or derived from the records or information for the purpose of allowing that person to sell or offer for sale any property or service to any person listed or to any person who resides at any address listed.”
Thank you for your assistance.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Address]
[Phone Number]
[email address]
OPTIONAL PARAGRAPH WHEN REQUESTING COMMUNICATIONS FROM DEVICES SUCH AS CELL PHONES, TABLETS AND SERVERS IN THE POSSESSION OF PUBLIC OFFICIALS OR EMPLOYEES:
Finally, under new law effective July 1, 2016, “public records” means “any recorded information, regardless of form, characteristics or location, which is made, maintained or kept by or is in the possession of any officer or employee of a public agency pursuant to the officer’s or employee’s official duties and which is related to the functions, activities, programs or operations of any public agency.” K.S.A. 2016 Supp. 45-217(g).
Max Kautsch is the Kansas legal hotline attorney for the Kansas Press Association and the Kansas Association of Broadcasters. Send him an email here.