Law Review and Bar Journal References:

"Kansas Sunshine Law; How Bright Does it Shine Now? The Kansas Open Meetings Act," Theresa Marcel Nuckolls, 72 J.K.B.A. No. 6, 34 (2003).

Attorney General's Opinions:

KOMA; county hospital board of trustees; telephone conversations and voting. 80-159.

Application of KOMA to work sessions; minutes. 80-197.

KOMA; oral notice; closed sessions. 81-22.

KOMA; informal gatherings. 81-262.

KOMA; meetings with special interest groups. 81-264.

KOMA; telephone conversations; public access. 81-268.

KOMA; written memoranda. 82-16.

Hazardous waste disposal facility approval board is subject to KOMA. 82-266.

KOMA; uniform application to cities. 83-6.

KOMA; metropolitan Topeka airport authority quorum change. 83-174.

KOMA; joint meetings between governing bodies subject to act. 84-103.

Membership of a body; mayor-council form of government does not include mayor to constitute a quorum. 86-110.

Husband and wife serving on five-member board; definition of meeting. 87-45.

Private, nonprofit corporation receiving public funds and acting as governmental agency is subject to KOMA. 87-143.

Open meetings act; application to private, nonprofit corporation. 87-188.

Private, nonprofit corporations; public funds; open public meetings. 88-27.

Open meetings act; executive sessions; applicability; persons entitled to attend; actions taken. 91-31.

Open meeting defined; quorum; impact of abstention on quorum; disqualified member. 91-73.

Open public meetings; house and senate conference committees; notice of meetings. 93-113.

Open public meeting defined; quorum change; recreation commission. 93-140.

Boards of education; power to provide home computers for board members; definition of meeting; electronic mail as interactive communication. 95-13.

Notice of meetings of bodies and committees of bodies subject to open meetings act. 95-112.

Notice of adjourned, recessed or continued meetings subject to open meetings act. 96-14.

Board of dental examiners; changing number of members constituting a quorum. 96-32.

Application of open meetings act and administrative procedure act to proceedings for determination of benefits of KPERS member before hearing officer and board of trustees. 97-40.

Interactive communication; real time; serial communications such as calling tree. 98-26.

Meetings; serial meetings or communications; calling trees. 98-49.

Application of Kansas Open Meetings Act to non-City Council meeting. 2000-64.

Public body subject to Kansas Open Meetings Act may conduct meetings by telephone; general public must be able to listen. 2005-3.

Evaluation of an employee may be discussed during the executive session but the topic of policy or directive adopted by a governing body must be within the context of such employee's performance. 2009-21.

Interactive communication does not occur when a non-member of a body communicates with a majority of that body and a member responds and shares the response with other members. 2009-22.

Public entity subject to the Kansas open meetings act may conduct meetings outside of Kansas or by teleconference or videoconference if it complies with all of the requirements of the Kansas open meetings act. 2011-23.

CASE ANNOTATIONS

1. Act is not unconstitutionally overbroad or vague; statute depends on civil sanctions for enforcement; also discussed in dissent. State ex rel. Murray v. Palmgren, 231 Kan. 524, 531, 534, 540, 541, 542, 646 P.2d 1091 (1982).

2. Non-prearranged recess gathering of county commissioners not violation of open meetings act. Stevens v. Board of Reno County Comm'rs, 10 Kan. App. 2d 523, 524, 525, 710 P.2d 698 (1985).

3. Authority of county commission to increase quorum requirements under home rule powers (K.S.A. 19-101 et seq.) determined. State ex rel. Stephan v. Board of Sedgwick County Comm'rs, 244 Kan. 536, 539, 770 P.2d 455 (1989).

4. The definition of "meeting" contained in KOMA (K.S.A. 75-4317 et seq.) examined and held not to include telephone calls. State ex rel Stephan v. Board of Seward County Comm'rs, 254 Kan. 446, 447, 449, 866 P.2d 1024 (1994).