Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt is now asking the Kansas Supreme Court to get involved in a Johnson County ruling that says part of the state’s new emergency management law is unconstitutional.
Last month, a Johnson County judge said a provision allowing residents to sue cities and counties if they were “aggrieved” by those entities’ usage of COVID-19 mitigation protocols could lead to “legal anarchy” and was unconstitutional. Schmidt appealed and asked Johnson County to stay that decision pending results of the appeal, saying the pertinent section had expired with the end of the state’s emergency declaration and the issue was now a moot point.
With the district court denying that motion, Schmidt is making the same point to the Supreme Court. He also the lower court’s ruling is causing “unnecessary and disruptive confusion” when it comes to future disaster emergency response.
