By Clay Wirestone, Kansas Reflector
The Kansas Open Records Act makes clear demands of state and local government.
This vital law requires timely release of public records within three business days of receiving a request. If officials can’t fulfill that timeline, they’re required to explain why, in detail.
The Kansas Senate Committee on Government Efficiency claims to be working for the good of all by ferreting out waste and bloat in state government. Perhaps it should start with itself, or at least with chairwoman Renee Erickson, R-Wichita. She led the effort to stonewall news media requests for public recommendations submitted to COGE through its online portal. Kansas Reflector requested the records from her on Feb. 25. They weren’t released until April 9 — more than six weeks later.
By that time, our reporter Anna Kaminski had already examined a leaked copy of public feedback.
That batch of public comments suggested why Erickson pushed the public release until after the legislative session ended. Kansans blasted the committee with messages calling for Medicaid expansion, legalized cannabis and tolerance for LGBTQ+ youths. They show, in short, how anti-government narratives miss the mark in Kansas, where right-wing ideologues have poisoned the well of state government for years.
On Wednesday, Kansas Reflector editor in chief Sherman Smith submitted a complaint to the state Attorney General’s Office about this delay. Erickson’s committee did not respond to our request in a timely manner, and the broader public suffered because crucial information was hidden from them. COGE members could access the messages in mid-March, but their constituents could not. We believe that government officials should be held responsible for delay and obfuscation.
We heard attempts to justify the delays at a COGE meeting May 13. There were just so many messages. We had to screen them all. We didn’t delete anything.
Gordon Self, a legislative staff member, opined: “Once the KORA requests were received and a response was made, there was a review of the records, all 2,000, to determine if any of the records did contain information. After a thorough review, there were some identified that did have some sensitive information in them.”
Erickson harumphed: “At the end of the day, there are none that have been deleted, there are none that are not available for review. But as was said, we wanted to make sure that we were not including information that was not appropriate for such a situation.”
Forgive me for rolling my eyes. These self-satisfied excuses don’t add up.
None of the messages reviewed by Kansas Reflector staff appear to include sensitive information that the government had to shield from prying eyes. As noted earlier, a tranche of unredacted submissions was leaked to us in late March. We have compared the two versions. There’s no there there.
In one message, for instance, Statehouse staff omitted a profane phrase. That didn’t protect anyone’s personal or private information.
In another case, the same suggestion was apparently submitted in two categories. The messages mention Senate President Ty Masterson’s lucrative side hustle at Wichita Stare University, where he earns more than $150,000 a year as “director of GoCreate, a Koch Collaborative.” In one of them, Masterson’s name has been redacted, along with that of the author. In the other, neither Masterson nor the author has been redacted.
Only a few dozen of the thousand-plus messages saw any redactions at all.
Perhaps Statehouse staff don’t have the slightest idea what they’re doing. Perhaps they made a few random edits to the messages to justify the month-plus delay. Neither option should fill Kansans with confidence in their legislators or the work of COGE.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the COGE web portal includes the warning that “Portal submissions are public records that are subject to the Kansas Open Records Act.” Those sending in feedback have to check a box next to that warning. Why even bother to do that if you’re going to screen the material afterward?
Like other public records conflicts, this runs the risk of sounding petty. So what, I can hear some readers ask. You got the information anyway. Why fuss?
My answer remains the same as when I wrote about Emporia Stare University’s unconscionable response in turning over information to Kansas Reflector. This information belongs to everyone. Lawmakers don’t get to pass a law and then arbitrarily decide whether to follow it. If they expect town and county governments to follow KORA, if they expect other state agencies to follow KORA, they can damn well follow it themselves.
That’s what justice and fair play demands. That’s what their fellow Kansans deserve. And it’s what we’re going to do, no matter Erickson’s sanctimonious claptrap.
Clay Wirestone is Kansas Reflector opinion editor. Through its opinion section, Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.
(KCNOnline Editor’s Note: Click here to read Wirestone’s opinion piece at the Kansas Reflector site, which includes a copy of the complaint the Kansas Reflector submitted.)
