Kansas Senate efficiency committee withheld public-portal records from Kansas Reflector past KORA deadlines while granting lawmakers early access

On Feb. 25, 2025, Kansas Reflector requested the public submissions Kansans had made to the Kansas Senate Committee on Government Efficiency's online portal — records the portal itself described as public. The Kansas Open Records Act requires public agencies to respond within three business days and to produce records as soon as possible, or to provide a detailed written explanation for any longer delay. Committee chair Sen. Renee Erickson, R-Wichita, instead told the newsroom the records would be withheld, first citing a May 1, 2025 timeline and later moving the date to April 9, 2025, and offered no legally required explanation for the extended delay beyond a stated preference to categorize the submissions during the legislative session.

While Kansas Reflector waited, Erickson granted read-only access to the same portal submissions to committee member Sen. Patrick Schmidt and to Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes by mid-March 2025, and separately redacted the names and contact information of 55 of more than 1,600 submitters. The outlet did not receive the records until April 9, 2025 — roughly six weeks after its request. In May 2025, Kansas Reflector editor-in-chief Sherman Smith filed a complaint with the Kansas Attorney General's office alleging that Erickson had violated the open-records law.

Updates

2026-07-01 — Legislature approved $20,000 to defend Erickson against the complaint [3]

On July 1, 2026, the Kansas Legislative Coordinating Council voted to spend up to $20,000 in public funds to hire private outside counsel — Edward Greim of Kansas City, Missouri — to defend Erickson against the open-records complaint. Attorney General Kris Kobach's office had declined to represent her, citing a conflict of interest because it was investigating the complaint.