The Kansas Attorney General’s Office and the Sunshine Coalition for Open Government will offer a free training session on Kansas open records and open meetings laws in Kansas City, Kan., next month, Attorney General Derek Schmidt announced today.
The training session will be from 1 to 4 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 7, at the Kansas City Kansas Community College Technical Education Center at 6565 State Ave. Those wishing to attend should register on the attorney general’s website at www.ag.ks.gov or call 785-296-2215.
The attorney general’s office and the Sunshine Coalition have provided a week of training about open government laws at locations throughout the state for the past several years. A new law passed earlier this year by the Legislature places formal responsibility on the attorney general’s office to provide and coordinate training on Kansas open government laws.
The law also provided the attorney general’s office with additional tools to investigate and enforce violations of the laws. During this transition, the attorney general’s office is again coordinating a training series with the Sunshine Coalition to include several trainings to be held over the course of the fiscal year that will end June 30, 2016.
“Many violations of the law are unintentional and can be avoided through proper training,” Schmidt said. “As we move toward expanded training opportunities and enforcement required under the new statute, I encourage elected officials, public employees and members of the media and general public to attend this training to learn more about what is required under these laws.”
The training about the Kansas Open Records Act and the Kansas Open Meetings Act will be conducted by attorneys in Schmidt’s office who specialize in open government laws. Panelists will include Kansas Sunshine Coalition members, local government officials and media representatives.
Schmidt said his office is planning additional training opportunities in Southeast Kansas and Western Kansas this fiscal year. More information on those opportunities will be announced in the coming months.