By Brianna Childers
KU Statehouse Wire Service
TOPEKA — A bill that will help to clarify the public availability of information on police and law enforcement officers was under consideration Thursday in a House Corrections and Juvenile Justice committee hearing.
House Bill 2625 would change the confidentiality of police officer records to remain confidential. They could not be disclosed to an open records request.
These records, which are currently maintained by the Kansas Commission on Peace Officers’ Standards and Training (CPOST), can be requested by any agency that elects or appoints police, the subject of the records, the director of police training, an enforcement agency, or requested during a proceeding conducted by the commission.
The records include training and demographic reports, employment forms, and personal and personnel information.
Certain records also must be disclosed discretionarily, including records with the officer’s name, current employer, and written orders or documents regarding reprimand.
Michelle Meier, commission counsel for CPOST, said the registry currently contains information of more than 29,000 former and current officers.
“The original legislative intent behind this statute was to prevent the gypsy cop from freely moving from department to department, leaving behind various degrees of misconduct,” Meier said.
While the system works for CPOST, Meier said one of the problems with the original legislation was it didn’t define what information could be released and who it should be released to. She said she hopes this bill clarifies that, not only for agencies requesting the information but for CPOST as well.
Meier said this bill doesn’t necessarily change the transparency of the records, it just makes it easier for everyone to understand what can be released.
“House Bill 2625 balances the importance of public information about officer misconduct while upholding long established open records law for an agency’s records, and it does so in a way that provides direction and clarifies expectations to all those involved,” Meier said.
Max Kautsch, legal hotline attorney for the Kansas Press Association, is opposed to the bill and said that his concern is that the bill doesn’t make the information transparent enough to Kansas citizens.
“I think there is a way to balance all interests, making sure CPOST has all the info they need but there must be a way to balance it, especially when officers are engaged in misdeeds but don’t result in decertification proceedings, then the public can be aware of that,” Kautsch said.
Rep. Russ Jennings (R-Lakin) said he supports the bill but that it needs some more clarification as to what information can be disclosed.
“It’s a question of trying to balance the right of the public and the need to know by law enforcement employers, and the rights of individuals,” Jennings said. “That’s what complicates it; you have an odd array of elements that are not easily put into one bucket.”
Brianna Childers is a senior at the University of Kansas majoring in journalism, from Sedalia, Missouri.