Topeka ? Kansas government soon will be a little more open under a new law making it clear that public employee contracts and agreements are subject to public scrutiny.

“The people of Kansas have a right to know what their government is doing and how their tax dollars are being spent,” Gov. Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement Wednesday after signing the bill.

The changes take effect July 1. Inspiring them was the Lawrence Journal-World’s request in 2003 to the University of Kansas to fully disclose all compensation paid to athletic director Lew Perkins, including money that came from nonpublic sources.

Current law requires disclosure of records of names, positions, salaries and lengths of service of public employees. However, it allows agencies to refuse to release personnel records, performance ratings or other “individually identifiable records” about employees. The university and its athletic corporation argued the provision covered Perkins’ records.

The World Company, which publishes the newspaper and operates cable television station 6News, filed a lawsuit last year to force disclosure. The Associated Press and the Kansas Press Association later joined the litigation. A district court judge sided with the news organizations, and the records were released.

The new law makes clear that such contracts and agreement aren’t exempt from the Kansas Open Records Act.

“What the Legislature accomplished this year was a victory for the people of Kansas because more the records of government will be open,” said Doug Anstaett, the association’s executive director.

Anstaett said the new law also includes a better definition of “clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy,” something that allows records to remain closed.

“It had been vague in the past, and now we have a clear definition which means it will be used less often but when it’s needed,” Anstaett said. “That exemption was a catch-all that was used when they couldn’t think of anything else to deny a record.”

The new law also requires that by Jan. 15 of each year county prosecutors report to the attorney general’s office all complaints received during the preceding fiscal year dealing with violations of the Open Records Act and Open Meetings Act and how each case was handled.

The attorney general’s office must publish a summary of that information, listing the public agencies that faced complaints or investigations.

Also, starting next year, faculty members at state universities must disclose consulting contracts with outside groups or companies.

It also extends current exemptions to the Open Records Act for another five years. They were due to expire July 1.

Various government records can be closed under 370 provisions of state law, including 46 in the Open Records Act. Under a 2000 law, Open Records Act exceptions must be reviewed after five years.