Wichita ? Prosecutors would have more time to file a court challenge to overturn actions taken in illegal closed meetings under a bill sponsored by 29 state representatives.

House Bill 2767, introduced Monday, would give the attorney general and local prosecutors 180 days to file a lawsuit to overturn actions taken in sessions that violate the Kansas Open Meetings Act — much longer than the 10 days provided for under current law.

“If somebody’s trying to hide the action, 10 days is not enough,” said Rep. Tom Sawyer, D-Wichita, who is spearheading the legislation with Rep. Brenda Landwehr, R-Wichita.

Sawyer said the bill was a response to an incident in Wichita in which a violation of the Kansas Open Meetings Act was discovered months after it took place, preventing Sedgwick County District Attorney Nora Foulston from filing a court challenge.

“I was not aware of that kind of catch-22 in the law until then,” Sawyer said.

In that case, Wichita City Council members voted April 1 to give then-City Manager Chris Cherches a severance package worth at least $72,500 in the event he was fired. No members of the media or public were present, and the agreement between the city and Cherches was known to only a handful of City Hall insiders until late May.

Under state law, city councils can go into closed sessions to discuss personnel, but must vote in public. A council is required to announce when and where the public meeting will resume when it enters closed session.

In the April 1 meeting, then-Mayor Bob Knight announced when the meeting would resume but not that it would move across the hall to the council office lobby.