Kansas Law Mandates Review of All Exemptions to State's Public Records Law
As this article in the Seattle Times notes, the Kansas legislature is currently considering legislation to review 30 of the exemptions to its public records laws (Title 42). Kansas law mandates that the legislature review all exemptions every five years.
Washington law does not require the Legislature to review Public Records Act exemptions. Instead, the Public Records Act includes a provision that has created the Sunshine Committee, which has been tasked to review all 365+ exemptions. The committee's unanimous recommendations -- contained in SB 5295 -- are on target to pass this session. But there are also two bills before the Legislature that would either suspend or eliminate the Sunshine Committee: SB 5588 and SB 5994.
