Closed records
The Kansas Legislature reviews and approves all the laws that close records. They have adopted general policies for closing public records. They are:
- The public record is of a sensitive or personal nature concerning individuals.
- The confidentiality of the public record is necessary for the effective and efficient administration of a governmental program.
- The public record affects confidential information.
If a requested record is closed, the record custodian will tell you and provide you the appropriate source of the law that closes the record.
Exceptions
KORA recognizes that certain records contain private or privileged information, and the agency is not required to provide access to those records. The act lists several exceptions, including but not limited to:
- Records closed by the rules of evidence
- Personnel records of public employees
- Medical treatment records
- Criminal investigation records
- Notes, preliminary drafts or records in which opinions are expressed or actions are proposed
- Records for which disclosure would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy
- Proprietary business information
- Records protected by attorney / client privilege
Records more than 70 years old may be disclosed without regard to the above-listed exemptions, unless exempt under other federal or state law. Records only partially exempt will have the exempt portions excluded prior to production. Records that would unduly disclose individual identities may be produced if exclusion of identifying portions would prevent identification. The Kansas Open Records Act does not supersede federal law, including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). While FERPA permits disclosure of student “directory information” without student consent, WSU policy does not define email addresses in bulk as directory information; therefore listings of multiple student email addresses are not produced for any purpose.