CHAPTER 17
House Bill No. 2166
(Amended by Chapter 125)
An Act concerning the open records act; relating to public records; continuing in existence certain exceptions to the disclosure thereof; amending K.S.A. 65-7616 and K.S.A. 2024 Supp. 45-229 and 48-962 and repealing the existing sections; also repealing K.S.A. 2024 Supp. 45-229d.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Kansas:
Section 1. K.S.A. 2024 Supp. 45-229 is hereby amended to read as follows: 45-229. (a) It is the intent of the legislature that exceptions to disclosure under the open records act shall be created or maintained only if:
(1) The public record is of a sensitive or personal nature concerning individuals;
(2) the public record is necessary for the effective and efficient administration of a governmental program; or
(3) the public record affects confidential information.
The maintenance or creation of an exception to disclosure must be compelled as measured by these criteria. Further, the legislature finds that the public has a right to have access to public records unless the criteria in this section for restricting such access to a public record are met and the criteria are considered during legislative review in connection with the particular exception to disclosure to be significant enough to override the strong public policy of open government. To strengthen the policy of open government, the legislature shall consider the criteria in this section before enacting an exception to disclosure.
(b) Subject to the provisions of subsections (g) and (h), any new exception to disclosure or substantial amendment of an existing exception shall expire on July 1 of the fifth year after enactment of the new exception or substantial amendment, unless the legislature acts to continue the exception. A law that enacts a new exception or substantially amends an existing exception shall state that the exception expires at the end of five years and that the exception shall be reviewed by the legislature before the scheduled date.
(c) For purposes of this section, an exception is substantially amended if the amendment expands the scope of the exception to include more records or information. An exception is not substantially amended if the amendment narrows the scope of the exception.
(d) This section is not intended to repeal an exception that has been amended following legislative review before the scheduled repeal of the exception if the exception is not substantially amended as a result of the review.
(e) In the year before the expiration of an exception, the revisor of statutes shall certify to the president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives, by July 15, the language and statutory citation of each exception that will expire in the following year that meets the criteria of an exception as defined in this section. Any exception that is not identified and certified to the president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives is not subject to legislative review and shall not expire. If the revisor of statutes fails to certify an exception that the revisor subsequently determines should have been certified, the revisor shall include the exception in the following year’s certification after that determination.
(f) “Exception” means any provision of law that creates an exception to disclosure or limits disclosure under the open records act pursuant to K.S.A. 45-221, and amendments thereto, or pursuant to any other provision of law.
(g) A provision of law that creates or amends an exception to disclosure under the open records law shall not be subject to review and expiration under this act if such provision:
(1) Is required by federal law;
(2) applies solely to the legislature or to the state court system;
(3) has been reviewed and continued in existence twice by the legislature;
(4) has been reviewed and continued in existence by the legislature during the 2013 legislative session and thereafter; or
(5) is a report of the results of an audit conducted by the United States cybersecurity and infrastructure security agency.
(h) (1) The legislature shall review the exception before its scheduled expiration and consider as part of the review process the following:
(A) What specific records are affected by the exception;
(B) whom does the exception uniquely affect, as opposed to the general public;
(C) what is the identifiable public purpose or goal of the exception;
(D) whether the information contained in the records may be obtained readily by alternative means and how it may be obtained;
(2) an exception may be created or maintained only if it serves an identifiable public purpose and may be no broader than is necessary to meet the public purpose it serves. An identifiable public purpose is served if the legislature finds that the purpose is sufficiently compelling to override the strong public policy of open government and cannot be accomplished without the exception and if the exception:
(A) Allows the effective and efficient administration of a governmental program that would be significantly impaired without the exception;
(B) protects information of a sensitive personal nature concerning individuals, the release of such information would be defamatory to such individuals or cause unwarranted damage to the good name or reputation of such individuals or would jeopardize the safety of such individuals. Only information that would identify the individuals may be excepted under this paragraph; or
(C) protects information of a confidential nature concerning entities, including, but not limited to, a formula, pattern, device, combination of devices, or compilation of information that is used to protect or further a business advantage over those who do not know or use it, if the disclosure of such information would injure the affected entity in the marketplace.
(3) Records made before the date of the expiration of an exception shall be subject to disclosure as otherwise provided by law. In deciding whether the records shall be made public, the legislature shall consider whether the damage or loss to persons or entities uniquely affected by the exception of the type specified in paragraph (2)(B) or (2)(C) would occur if the records were made public.
(i) (1) Exceptions contained in the following statutes as continued in existence in section 2 of chapter 126 of the 2005 Session Laws of Kansas and that have been reviewed and continued in existence twice by the legislature as provided in subsection (g) are hereby continued in existence: 1-401, 2-1202, 5-512, 9-1137, 9-1712, 9-2217, 10-630, 12-189, 12-1,108, 12-1694, 12-1698, 12-2819, 12-4516, 16-715, 16a-2-304, 17-1312e, 17-2227, 17-5832, 17-7511, 17-76,139, 19-4321, 21-2511, 22-3711, 22-4707, 22-4909, 22a-243, 22a-244, 23-605, 23-9,312, 25-4161, 25-4165, 31-405, 34-251, 38-2212, 39-709b, 39-719e, 39-934, 39-1434, 39-1704, 40-222, 40-2,156, 40-2c20, 40-2c21, 40-2d20, 40-2d21, 40-409, 40-956, 40-1128, 40-2807, 40-3012, 40-3304, 40-3308, 40-3403b, 40-3421, 40-3613, 40-3805, 40-4205, 44-510j, 44-550b, 44-594, 44-635, 44-714, 44-817, 44-1005, 44-1019, 45-221(a)(1) through (43), 46-256, 46-259, 46-2201, 47-839, 47-844, 47-849, 47-1709, 48-1614, 49-406, 49-427, 55-1,102, 58-4114, 59-2135, 59-2802, 59-2979, 59-29b79, 60-3333, 60-3336, 65-102b, 65-118, 65-119, 65-153f, 65-170g, 65-177, 65-1,106, 65-1,113, 65-1,116, 65-1,157a, 65-1,163, 65-1,165, 65-1,168, 65-1,169, 65-1,171, 65-1,172, 65-436, 65-445, 65-507, 65-525, 65-531, 65-657, 65-1135, 65-1467, 65-1627, 65-1831, 65-2422d, 65-2438, 65-2836, 65-2839a, 65-2898a, 65-3015, 65-3447, 65-34,108, 65-34,126, 65-4019, 65-4922, 65-4925, 65-5602, 65-5603, 65-6002, 65-6003, 65-6004, 65-6010, 65-67a05, 65-6803, 65-6804, 66-101c, 66-117, 66-151, 66-1,190, 66-1,203, 66-1220a, 66-2010, 72-2232, 72-3438, 72-6116, 72-6267, 72-9934, 73-1228, 74-2424, 74-2433f, 74-32,419, 74-4905, 74-4909, 74-50,131, 74-5515, 74-7308, 74-7338, 74-8104, 74-8307, 74-8705, 74-8804, 74-9805, 75-104, 75-712, 75-7b15, 75-1267, 75-2943, 75-4332, 75-4362, 75-5133, 75-5266, 75-5665, 75-5666, 75-7310, 76-355, 76-359, 76-493, 76-12b11, 76-12c03, 76-3305, 79-1119, 79-1437f, 79-3234, 79-3395, 79-3420, 79-3499, 79-34,113, 79-3614, 79-3657, 79-4301 and 79-5206.
(2) Exceptions contained in the following statutes as certified by the revisor of statutes to the president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives pursuant to subsection (e) and that have been reviewed during the 2015 legislative session and continued in existence by the legislature as provided in subsection (g) are hereby continued in existence: 17-2036, 40-5301, 45-221(a)(45), (46) and (49), 48-16a10, 58-4616, 60-3351, 72-3415, 74-50,217 and 75-53,105.
(j) (1) Exceptions contained in the following statutes as continued in existence in section 1 of chapter 87 of the 2006 Session Laws of Kansas and that have been reviewed and continued in existence twice by the legislature as provided in subsection (g) are hereby continued in existence: 1-501, 9-1303, 12-4516a, 39-970, 65-525, 65-5117, 65-6016, 65-6017 and 74-7508.
(2) Exceptions contained in the following statutes as certified by the revisor of statutes to the president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives pursuant to subsection (e) during 2015 and that have been reviewed during the 2016 legislative session are hereby continued in existence: 12-5611, 22-4906, 22-4909, 38-2310, 38-2311, 38-2326, 40-955, 44-1132, 45-221(a)(10)(F) and (a)(50), 60-3333, 65-4a05, 65-445(g), 65-6154, 71-218, 75-457, 75-712c, 75-723 and 75-7c06.
(k) Exceptions contained in the following statutes as certified by the revisor of statutes to the president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives pursuant to subsection (e) and that have been reviewed during the 2014 legislative session and continued in existence by the legislature as provided in subsection (g) are hereby continued in existence: 1-205, 2-2204, 8-240, 8-247, 8-255c, 8-1324, 8-1325, 12-17,150, 12-2001, 17-12a607, 38-1008, 38-2209, 40-5006, 40-5108, 41-2905, 41-2906, 44-706, 44-1518, 45-221(a)(44), (45), (46), (47) and (48), 50-6a11, 65-1,243, 65-16,104, 65-3239, 74-50,184, 74-8134, 74-99b06, 77-503a and 82a-2210.
(l) Exceptions contained in the following statutes as certified by the revisor of statutes to the president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives pursuant to subsection (e) during 2016 and that have been reviewed during the 2017 legislative session are hereby continued in existence: 12-5711, 21-2511, 22-4909, 38-2313, 45-221(a)(51) and (52), 65-516, 65-1505, 74-2012, 74-5607, 74-8745, 74-8752, 74-8772, 75-7d01, 75-7d05, 75-5133, 75-7427 and 79-3234.
(m) Exceptions contained in the following statutes as certified by the revisor of statutes to the president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives pursuant to subsection (e) during 2012 and that have been reviewed during the 2013 legislative session and continued in existence by the legislature as provided in subsection (g) are hereby continued in existence: 12-5811, 40-222, 40-223j, 40-5007a, 40-5009a, 40-5012a, 65-1685, 65-1695, 65-2838a, 66-1251, 66-1805, 72-8268, 75-712 and 75-5366.
(n) Exceptions contained in the following statutes as certified by the revisor of statutes to the president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives pursuant to subsection (e) and that have been reviewed during the 2018 legislative session are hereby continued in existence: 9-513c(c)(2), 39-709, 45-221(a)(26), (53) and (54), 65-6832, 65-6834, 75-7c06 and 75-7c20.
(o) Exceptions contained in the following statutes as certified by the revisor of statutes to the president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives pursuant to subsection (e) that have been reviewed during the 2019 legislative session are hereby continued in existence: 21-2511(h)(2), 21-5905(a)(7), 22-2302(b) and (c), 22-2502(d) and (e), 40-222(k)(7), 44-714(e), 45-221(a)(55), 46-1106(g) regarding 46-1106(i), 65-2836(i), 65-2839a(c), 65-2842(d), 65-28a05(n), article 6(d) of 65-6230, 72-6314(a) and 74-7047(b).
(p) Exceptions contained in the following statutes as certified by the revisor of statutes to the president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives pursuant to subsection (e) that have been reviewed during the 2020 legislative session are hereby continued in existence: 38-2310(c), 40-409(j)(2), 40-6007(a), 45-221(a)(52), 46-1129, 59-29a22(b)(10) and 65-6747.
(q) Exceptions contained in the following statutes as certified by the revisor of statutes to the president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives pursuant to subsection (e) that have been reviewed during the 2021 legislative session are hereby continued in existence: 22-2302(c)(4)(J) and (c)(6)(B), 22-2502(e)(4)(J) and (e)(6)(B) and 65-6111(d)(4).
(r) Exceptions contained in the following statutes as certified by the revisor of statutes to the president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives pursuant to subsection (e) that have been reviewed during the 2023 legislative session are hereby continued in existence: 2-3902 and 66-2020.
(s) Exceptions contained in the following statutes as certified by the revisor of statutes to the president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives pursuant to subsection (e) that have been reviewed during the 2024 legislative session are hereby continued in existence: 2-3906, 2-3907, 41-511, 50-6,109a and 74-50,227.
(t) Exceptions contained in the following statutes as certified by the revisor of statutes to the president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives pursuant to subsection (e) that have been reviewed during the 2025 legislative session are hereby continued in existence: 48-962 and 65-7616.
Sec. 2. K.S.A. 2024 Supp. 48-962 is hereby amended to read as follows: 48-962. (a) During a state of disaster emergency declared under K.S.A. 48-924, and amendments thereto, related to the COVID-19 public health emergency, each local health officer shall work with first responder agencies operating in the county to establish a method to share information indicating where a person testing positive for or under quarantine or isolation due to COVID-19 resides or can be expected to be present. Such information shall:
(1) Include the address for such person and, as applicable, the duration of the quarantine, isolation or expected recovery period for such person as determined by the local health officer; and
(2) only be used for the purpose of allowing the first responders to be alert to the need for utilizing appropriate personal protective equipment during the response activity.
(b) The information described in subsection (a) shall be provided to the 911 call center for the area serving the address provided. The 911 call center shall disseminate the information only to first responders responding to the listed address.
(c) All information provided or disseminated under this section shall not be a public record and shall not be subject to the Kansas open records act, K.S.A. 45-215 et seq., and amendments thereto. The provisions of this subsection shall expire on July 1, 2025, unless the legislature reviews and reenacts this provision pursuant to K.S.A. 45-229, and amendments thereto.
Sec. 3. K.S.A. 65-7616 is hereby amended to read as follows: 65-7616. (a) A licensee’s license may be revoked, suspended, limited or placed on probation, or the licensee may be publicly censured, or an application for a license or for reinstatement of a license may be denied upon a finding of the existence of any of the following grounds:
(1) The licensee has committed an act of unprofessional conduct as defined by rules and regulations adopted by the board;
(2) the licensee has committed fraud or misrepresentation in applying for or securing an original, renewal or reinstated license;
(3) the licensee has committed an act of professional incompetency as defined by rules and regulations adopted by the board;
(4) the licensee has been convicted of a felony;
(5) the licensee has violated any provision of the acupuncture practice act;
(6) the licensee has violated any lawful order or rule and regulation of the board;
(7) the licensee has been found to be mentally ill, disabled, not guilty by reason of insanity, not guilty because the licensee suffers from a mental disease or defect or incompetent to stand trial by a court of competent jurisdiction;
(8) the licensee has failed to report to the board any adverse action taken against the licensee by another state or licensing jurisdiction, a peer review body, a health care facility, a professional association or society, a governmental agency, a law enforcement agency or a court for acts or conduct similar to acts or conduct which would constitute grounds for disciplinary action under this section;
(9) the licensee has surrendered a license or authorization to practice as an acupuncturist in another state or jurisdiction, has agreed to a limitation or restriction of privileges at any medical care facility or has surrendered the licensee’s membership on any professional staff or in any professional association or society while under investigation for acts or conduct similar to acts or conduct which would constitute grounds for disciplinary action under this section;
(10) the licensee has failed to report to the board the surrender of the licensee’s license or authorization to practice as an acupuncturist in another state or jurisdiction or the surrender of the licensee’s membership on any professional staff or in any professional association or society while under investigation for acts or conduct similar to acts or conduct which would constitute grounds for disciplinary action under this section;
(11) the licensee has an adverse judgment, award or settlement rendered against the licensee resulting from a medical liability claim related to acts or conduct similar to acts or conduct which would constitute grounds for disciplinary action under this section;
(12) the licensee has failed to report to the board any adverse judgment, settlement or award against the licensee resulting from a medical malpractice liability claim related to acts or conduct similar to acts or conduct which would constitute grounds for disciplinary action under this section; or
(13) the licensee’s ability to practice with reasonable skill and safety to patients is impaired by reason of physical or mental illness, or use of alcohol, drugs or controlled substances. When reasonable suspicion of impairment exists, the board may take action in accordance with K.S.A. 65-2842, and amendments thereto. All information, reports, findings and other records relating to impairment shall be confidential and not subject to discovery by or release to any person or entity outside of a board proceeding. This provision regarding confidentiality shall expire on July 1, 2022, unless the legislature reviews and reenacts such provision pursuant to K.S.A. 45-229, and amendments thereto, prior to July 1, 2022.
(b) The denial, refusal to renew, suspension, limitation, probation or revocation of a license or other sanction may be ordered by the board upon a finding of a violation of the acupuncture practice act. All administrative proceedings conducted pursuant to this act shall be in accordance with the Kansas administrative procedure act and shall be reviewable in accordance with the Kansas judicial review act.
(c) This section shall take effect on and after July 1, 2017.
Sec. 4. K.S.A. 65-7616 and K.S.A. 2024 Supp. 45-229, 45-229d and 48-962 are hereby repealed.
Sec. 5. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its publication in the statute book.
Approved March 26, 2025.