Kansas

What is the law?

Binding, on-point law (about)

None

Advisory sources (about)

None

Public records law (about)

Kansas first enacted a public records statute in 1957. The Kansas Open Records Act is found at Kan. Stat. Ann. § 45-215.

The Kansas Open Records Act provides that a "public agency shall not be required to provide such items or devices which are copyrighted by a person other than the public agency," Kan. Stat. Ann. § 45-219(a), which suggests that public agencies can hold copyrights, and that copyrights held by public agencies do not preclude disclosure under the Act.

Does the public records law restrict the use of disclosed records?

Kan. Stat. Ann. § 45-220 restricts the use of records for commercial solicitation, but does not prohibit commercial use generally. Kan. Att'y Gen. Op. No. 98-51; Kan. Att'y Gen. Op. No. 2000-35; Kan. Att'y Gen. Ops. No. 96-68; Kan. Att'y Gen. Ops. 98-55. See also Theresa Marcel Nuckolls, "Kansas Sunshine Law; How Bright Does It Shine Now? The Kansas Open Meetings and Open Records Acts", 72:6 J. Kan. B. Ass'n (May 2003), at 28, 42.

Specifics and examples (about)

Status	Applies to...	Based on?
Copyrightable	Volumes of state reports	Kan. Stat. Ann. § 20-206
Copyrightable by statute	Intellectual property of the Kansas Bioscience Authority	Kan. Stat. Ann. § 74-99b09(a)(20)
Copyrightable by statute	General Index to Kansas statutes published by West Publishing Company, with copyright vested in the State of Kansas	Kan. Stat. Ann. § 77-134
Copyright asserted by department	"photos, graphics and logos" on the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism website	http://kdwpt.state.ks.us/news/KDWPT-Info/Notices/Copyright
Copyright asserted by department	Content of the Kansas Department of Commerce website	http://kansascommerce.com/copyright.aspx

Additional things to consider (about)

Several Kansas statutes refer to "books, records and other property" of state agencies, implying that books and records are owned by the state. See, e.g. Kan. Stat. Ann. § 41-203; Kan. Stat. Ann. § 74-128; Kan. Stat. Ann. § 75-2546a. Kan. Stat. Ann. § 45-403 says that "[a]ll government records made or received by and all government records coming into the custody, control or possession of a state or local agency, in the course of its public duties, and all government records deposited in the state archives, shall be public property and shall not be mutilated, destroyed, transferred, removed, damaged or otherwise disposed of, in whole or in part, except as provided by law."

The Kansas Historical Society says that "Government records are generally not copyrighted," and that "Photocopies ordered from other published materials may make the patron liable for copyright infringement," but does not specify whether they are referring to state government records.

Where else to go

Kansas Attorney General, Open Government website, available at http://ag.ks.gov/legal-services/open-govt.
Kansas Historical Society, available at http://www.kshs.org/.
Theresa Marcel Nuckolls, "Kansas Sunshine Law; How Bright Does It Shine Now? The Kansas Open Meetings and Open Records Acts", J. Kan. B. Ass'n, May 2003.
Reporter's Committee for Freedom of the Press, Open Government Guide: Access to Public Records and Meetings in Kansas, available at http://www.rcfp.org/rcfp/orders/docs/ogg/KS.pdf.

Bibliography

Statutes

Kan. Stat. Ann. § 45-215, Title of act, available at http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2013_14/statute/045_000_0000_chapter/045_002_0000_article/045_002_0015_section/045_002_0015_k/.
Kan. Stat. Ann. § 45-219, Abstracts or copies of records; fees, available at http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2013_14/statute/045_000_0000_chapter/045_002_0000_article/045_002_0019_section/045_002_0019_k/.
Kan. Stat. Ann. § 45-220, Procedures for obtaining access to or copies of records; request; office hours; provision of information on procedures, available at http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2013_14/statute/045_000_0000_chapter/045_002_0000_article/045_002_0020_section/045_002_0020_k/.
Kan. Stat. Ann. § 20-206, Copyright of reports, available at http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2013_14/statute/020_000_0000_chapter/020_002_0000_article/020_002_0006_section/020_002_0006_k/.
Kan. Stat. Ann. § 74-99b09, Bioscience authority, powers and duties; review by secretary of commerce, available at http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2013_14/statute/074_000_0000_chapter/074_099b_0000_article/074_099b_0009_section/074_099b_0009_k/.
Kan. Stat. Ann. § 77-134, General index; contract authority, available at http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2013_14/statute/077_000_0000_chapter/077_001_0000_article/077_001_0034_section/077_001_0034_k/.
Kan. Stat. Ann. § 41-203, Alcoholic beverage control board of review; abolished; transfer of authority, property, proceedings, available at http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2013_14/statute/041_000_0000_chapter/041_002_0000_article/041_002_0003_section/041_002_0003_k/.
Kan. Stat. Ann. § 74-128, References to state agencies abolished under 74-127; transfer of records and property; conflict resolved by governor, available at http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2013_14/statute/074_000_0000_chapter/074_001_0000_article/074_001_0028_section/074_001_0028_k/.
Kan. Stat. Ann. § 75-2546a, Abolishment of state library advisory commission; abolishment of Kansas library network board; powers and duties transferred to state library of Kansas board, available at http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2013_14/statute/075_000_0000_chapter/075_025_0000_article/075_025_0046a_section/075_025_0046a_k/.
Kan. Stat. Ann. § 45-403, Government records are public property; destruction prohibited, except as permitted by retention and disposition schedules, available at http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2013_14/statute/045_000_0000_chapter/045_004_0000_article/045_004_0003_section/045_004_0003_k/.

Attorney General Opinions

Kan. Att'y Gen. Op. No. 98-51, available at http://ksag.washburnlaw.edu/opinions/1998/1998-051.htm.
Kan. Att'y Gen. Op. No. 2000-35, available at http://ksag.washburnlaw.edu/opinions/2000/2000-035.htm.
Kan. Att'y Gen. Op. No. 96-68, available at http://ksag.washburnlaw.edu/opinions/1996/1996-068.pdf.
Kan. Att'y Gen. Op. No. 98-55, available at http://ksag.washburnlaw.edu/opinions/1998/1998-055.htm.

Other

Theresa Marcel Nuckolls, "Kansas Sunshine Law; How Bright Does It Shine Now? The Kansas Open Meetings and Open Records Acts", 72:6 J. Kan. B. Ass'n (May 2003).
Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism, copyright notice, available at http://kdwpt.state.ks.us/news/KDWPT-Info/Notices/Copyright.
Kansas Department of Commerce, copyright notice, available at http://kansascommerce.com/copyright.aspx.
Kansas Historical Society, Requesting Photocopies, available at http://www.kshs.org/p/requesting-photocopies-at-the-state-archives/13812.
Reporter's Committee for Freedom of the Press, Open Government Guide: Access to Public Records and Meetings in Kansas, available at http://www.rcfp.org/rcfp/orders/docs/ogg/KS.pdf.