Kansas Open Meetings Act
Guidelines for Committee Use
As a matter of policy, meetings of university committees are
open to the public. For that reason, committees may need to become
familiar with the operating requirements of the Kansas Open
Meetings Act. The following are general guidelines to assist
committees when operating within the provisions of the Act. For
further guidance concerning the applicability of the Act to
particular committees or particular circumstances, contact the
Office of the University Attorney.
I. Notices and Agendas
Any person who requests it must be furnished notice of the
date, time and place of any regular or special meeting of a body
that is subject to the Open Meetings Act. This applies to both
oral and written requests for notice. If notice is requested by an
organization or by a group of individuals, notice to a single
individual designated by the organization or group is satisfactory
notice. A request for ongoing notice should be considered valid at
least for the fiscal year in which it is requested. If notice is
to be discontinued at the end of the fiscal year, notice to
resubmit the request must be given. There is no general notice
requirement, absent a request. Agendas must also be furnished on
request, but the Act does not require preparation of an agenda.
II. Executive Sessions During Open Meetings
The Kansas Open Meetings Act allows bodies subject to the Act
to recess their open meetings for closed or executive sessions for
purposes of discussing certain topics and those topics only. The
subjects that may be handled in an executive session include the
following:
- Personnel matters of non-elected
personnel;
- consultation with an attorney for the body or agency which
would be deemed privileged in the attorney-client relationship;
- matters relating to employer-employee negotiations whether
or not in consultation with the representative or
representatives of the body or agency;
- confidential data relating to financial affairs or trade
secrets of corporations, partnerships, trusts, and individual
proprietorships;
- matters relating to actions adversely or favorably affecting
a person as a student, patient or resident of a public
institution, except that any such person shall have the right to
a public hearing if requested by the person; and
- preliminary discussions relating to the acquisition of real
property.
III. Procedures to be Followed for Executive Sessions
The Kansas Act is very precise in laying out the procedure that
a body must follow in recessing into an executive meeting. K.S.A.
75-4319 provides as follows:
Any motion to recess for a closed or executive meeting shall
include a statement