The Kansas Open Records Act needs some work.

Legislation dealing with official use of email was introduced but not advanced earlier this year, and new legislation may be considered to clarify the requirement to release probable-cause affidavits and open other police records. A lawsuit seeking the release of documents related to the governor’s judicial appointments also suggests the need for additional legislative action.

To ensure open government in the state, the Kansas Legislature should give these issues top priority when it convenes in January.

Many Kansans believed the affidavit issue was resolved by a new law that went into effect in July 2014 requiring the release of affidavits that spell out the reasons for a search warrant or arrest. Rep. John Rubin, a Shawnee Republican, said the law he authored seemed clear enough, but action may be needed to address “some uneven interpretation and application across the state.” Once a police record has been determined to be open, it is open for everyone, Rubin said, but some judges and prosecutors are requiring everyone who requests a record to go through a potentially expensive legal process to have it released. Rubin also says he will hold hearings to look into bringing Kansas more in line with other states when it comes to providing access to police records — like the investigative records related to the disappearance 27 years ago of Linwood teen Randy Leach, which have been permanently closed, even to Leach’s parents.

The email issue involves a loophole that makes government officials’ private email accounts exempt from the Open Records Act even if they use those accounts to conduct public business. Attorney General Derek Schmidt confirmed that exemption in a case earlier this year involving private email communication by the governor’s budget director involving the state budget. Those private emails aren’t public under the current law, but Schmidt agreed they should be and crafted legislation to make that happen. The issue wasn’t advanced during this year’s legislative session, but it should be back on the agenda for 2016.

Yet another open records issue is being pursued in court by media outlets after Gov. Brownback’s office refused to release documents submitted by candidates seeking to fill a vacancy created by the retirement of a magistrate judge in Reno County. As he has done with other judicial appointments, the governor appointed the magistrate without releasing any information or even the names of those who had applied.

All of these issues directly affect the ability of Kansans to monitor government dealings. Providing access to information about a search and arrest, a judicial appointment or a budget decision increases public confidence in state government — which should be an ongoing goal of the governor and state legislators.