Author Archive | Max

Kautsch Law, LLC

Fresh Tips: Sample Request for Records

[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, […]

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sunshine coalition logo

Open Records Act brings Sunshine

Advocates of open government have good reason to celebrate this Sunshine Week, a national celebration of government transparency, which runs from Sunday, March 12, through Saturday, March 18.  In Kansas, the week also represents an annual commemoration of the Kansas Sunshine Laws, which primarily include the Kansas Open Records Act (KORA) and the Kansas Open […]

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ag office

Attorney General’s Office “holds open” KOMA complaint; takes almost four years to respond

This spring, the Manhattan Free Press finally received a response from the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) to an open meetings complaint it filed in 2012 against county officials.  Although the response finds the officials in violation of law, the AGO declined to penalize them.  Moreover, the response implies that the complainant is somehow responsible for the delay and lack […]

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Fresh Tips: Requesting disclosure of probable cause affidavits

A little more than a year ago, two Kansas statutes, K.S.A. 22-2302 and K.S.A. 22-2502, were amended to give the public, including journalists, a right to see affidavits that police file to justify making arrests and conducting searches. As is often the case with new law, not everyone initially agrees on how to interpret it. So courts […]

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jkba cover may 2015

Fresh Tips: Accessing probable cause affidavits in Kansas

Fresh Takes’ own Max Kautsch co-authored the cover story in the May 2015 issue of the Journal of the Kansas Bar Association.  The article takes an in-depth look at the legislative intent related to the newly amended statutes and the genesis of their adoption.  It aspires to guide members of the public and journalists in […]

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