The Kansas Legislature treated its own law as a suggestion.
Now it wants to steal money from you to cover its tracks.
Top state officials decided to snatch $20,000 from the wallets of taxpayers in a flagrantly ridiculous quest, hiring a lawyer to defend a lawmaker over a complaint filed by Kansas Reflector. No one on our end requested such a move, but the Legislative Coordinating Council moved forward on Tuesday nonetheless.
It’s absurd. It’s pointless. And it could all be solved if lawmakers took responsibility for their actions.
The facts of the situation are simple, although slightly winding.
The Kansas Legislature hopped on the bandwagon of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, deciding there must be untold waste and fraud in state government.
It created the Committee on Government Efficiency, COGE, which solicited suggestions from the public.
Kansas Reflector requested copies of those suggestions on Feb. 25, 2025. After protracted wrangling, we didn’t receive them until April 9 of that year.
Meanwhile, an identical request from a member of the committee was answered in March. That sure appears to violate state law, which requires the government to either produce the requested records within three days or a give a detailed explanation of any delay.
The records suggested why lawmakers might have wanted to kept them hidden. Rather than reinforce conservative talking points, the majority of Kansans wanted to expand Medicaid, legalize cannabis, fully fund public schools and protect abortion rights. Uh-oh.
We take open records seriously. This law is a critical bulwark against government secrecy and malfeasance.
Editor-in-chief Sherman Smith therefore filed a complaint with the Kansas Attorney General’s Office in May of 2025. Time passed. The office last updated Kansas Reflector in November, with a letter that said the matter was still under review.
Finally, last week, we learned a bunch of news all at once.
Our complaint, which had been against the entire Legislature, had been narrowed by the Attorney General’s Office to focus on the COGE chairwoman, Sen. Renee Erickson, R-Wichita.
And because the Attorney General’s Office has dual responsibility to both enforce open records requirements and represent the state, legislative leaders decided to hire outside legal counsel to defend Erickson.
Members of the panel voiced displeasure with Attorney General Kris Kobach and approved spending up to $20,000 for the services of Kansas City, Missouri, attorney Edward Greim.
