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Minutes for SB180 - Committee on Judiciary
Short Title
Providing for law enforcement agencies to request and receive files concerning applicants previously employed by another state or local law enforcement agency.
Minutes Content for Wed, Mar 8, 2017
Jason Thompson gave a brief on the bill saying it creates a new section of law that allows law enforcement agencies to request and receive files concerning applicants previously employed by another state or local law enforcement agency. He then explained the subsections and what each one pertains to.
Seeing no further questions, Chairman Wilborn seeing proceeded to the next order of business.
Proponents:
Ed Klumpp shared his support (Attachment 1) of SB 180, where he made a verbal correction to his written testimony in paragraph 3: where it says 2015, it should say 2016. Mr. Klumpp went on to explain that this bill addresses an ongoing problem within the agencies when screening applicants for law enforcement positions who have been employed by another law enforcement agency in the state. Mr. Klumpp then went on to explain in detail how the bill protects the hiring agency, current or past employer, and the applicant. He concluded that the passage of the bill will enhance the quality of law enforcement services by accurate 'vetting' of applicants.
During a question and answer period, some issues that were addressed concerned accessibility of employee files by the Police Department, liability within agencies for officer misconduct concerning wrongful hiring law suits, and confidentiality of personnel files.
Melissa Wangemann shared her support (Attachment 2) for the bill furthering previous testimony by saying that the aim of the bill is to provide law enforcement agencies reliable personnel records for law enforcement officers during the hiring process. She also pointed out the exemption to the Kansas Open Records Act by exempting the hiring agency from KORA requests.
Seeing no further questions, Chairman Wilborn moved on to the next order of business.
Neutral:
Amanda Stanley shared her neutral perspective (Attachment 3) on SB 180. She went on to share her view on the advantages and disadvantages of the bill. Ms. Stanley shared her concern for the risk for former employers, specifically as it pertains to non-disclosure issues. She said that many of the concerns that she has can be alleviated by adding redaction language and allowing nondisclosure agreements to continue to be used by removing the execution date.
During a question and answer period issues were discussed concerning managing risk, and clarifications about non-disclosure of information. Ms. Stanley was asked to work with the proponents to offer an amendment in order to manage the risks that she mentioned within her testimony. Chairman Wilborn then closed the hearing.
