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Minutes for HB2599 - Committee on Judiciary
Short Title
Prohibiting charges for electronic copies and determinations of whether a record exists and limiting charges for employee time required to make records available under the Kansas open records act.
Minutes Content for Tue, Feb 6, 2024
Chairperson Humphries opened the hearing on HB2599 and explained that some missing testimony previously not emailed would be corrected and sent out to all.
Natalie Scott provided an overview of the bill and stood for questions. (Attachment 1)
Proponent
Dave Trabert stated K.S.A. 45-219(c)(1) says fees for copies of records "shall not exceed the actual cost" of fulfilling KORA requests. The KORA statute also says "a fee for copies for public records which is equal to or less than $.25 per page shall be deemed a reasonable fee." The actual cost of printing one page is less than a nickel, as documented in the attachments to our testimony. Since fees cannot exceed actual costs and the cost of printing a page is only a nickel or less, it seems that the legislative intent of allowing $.25 per page would cover the cost of printing and employee time. Mr. Trabert stood for questions. (Attachment 2)
Rachel Schrag Sommerfeld explained it is essential that open records in Kansas must be available to the public and to journalists, as it is a vital part of the process of ensuring that our government is held accountable to working for the people of Kansas. Excessive costs for KORA fees prevent individuals and journalists from being able to gain access to records that are meant to be open for a reason - so that Kansans can be aware of what is being done with our tax dollars. However excessive KORA fees are not uncommon in Kansas. She stood for questions. (Attachment 3)
Written Only Testimony Proponents
Emily Bradbury & Allison Mazzei, Kansas Press Association (Attachment 4)
Debbie Detmer, Private Citizen (Attachment 5)
Jill O'Conner, Private Citizen (Attachment 6)
Missy Leavitt, Private Citizen (Attachment 7)
Neutral
John Goodyear stated the costs to perform these reviews should be borne by the requester, not the local taxpayers. Because this legislation does not directly impact cities or threaten the ability to recoup costs, they stand neutral at this time. Mr. Goodyear stood for questions. (Attachment 8)
Neutral Written Only Testimony
Shannon Kimball, Kansas Association of School Boards (Attachment 9)
Thad Snider, Constituent (Attachment 10)
Brett Anderson, Private Citizen (Attachment 11)
Clayton Barker, Deputy Secretary of State, Office of the Kansas Secretary of State (Attachment 12)
Opponents
Jay Hall stated for printed copies, Kansas Association of Counties (KAC) would ask to maintain a reasonableness standard, which includes the presumption that fees below $0.25 are reasonable, rather than restricting the fee to no more than $0.25 per page as HB2599 proposes. Counties should be able to charge for search time. It is not in the public interest to potentially not identify records that are responsive to the request, give out information that should otherwise be protected, or pass these costs on to other taxpayers. Mr. Hall stood for questions. (Attachment 13)
Amanda Stanley explained as written, this HB2599 only applies to the executive branch of the state government. As it does not have an effect on the City of Topeka, they refrain from taking any opinion of the policy issue being looked at. However, they are submitting testimony to make clear the City would strongly oppose any amendment to make this legislation applicable to the City of Topeka. Ms. Stanley stood for questions. (Attachment 14)
Opponent Written Only Testimony
Michael Koss, City Attorney, City of Overland Park (Attachment 15)
Dick Carter, City of Overland Park (Attachment 16)
Chairperson Humphries closed the hearing HB2599.
