Lawrence Journal-World opinion section

The Kansas Legislature has drawn considerable criticism for some of its actions and inactions during this year’s session, but one bill, which was signed by Gov. Sam Brownback last week, is deserving of praise.

That law addresses an important gap in the Kansas Open Records Act involving public officials’ use of personal cell phones or email accounts to discuss public business. Starting July 1, those communications will be subject to public disclosure under the KORA.

This problem initially came to light in January 2015, when state Budget Director Shawn Sullivan used a private email account to send two prominent Republican lobbyists an advance copy of the governor’s budget proposals for the coming year. When a Wichita newspaper sought copies of those emails, Attorney General Derek Schmidt issued an opinion stating that because the emails were sent through a private account, they were not subject to the Open Records Act.

Schmidt subsequently helped introduce legislation to correct the problem and said the new law will move the Open Records Act “into the 21st Century” and is written broadly enough to cover new technology that will continue to be developed.

The new law won’t apply to officials’ personal communications and includes many exceptions that government agencies can invoke to block release of certain materials, such as personnel records. Nonetheless, closing the loophole is an important step toward open government in Kansas.

Access to meetings and communications about public business is essential to the public’s ability to monitor government actions and assess whether officials are acting in the best interests of their constituents. The new law benefits the state by helping ensure that access.