New social distancing emergency regulations have been approved for state and local governments so they are compliant with the Kansas Open Meetings Act.
Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt proposed the temporary rules last week as local, state and federal restrictions were announced that could prevent people from gathering in person for public meetings. The new regulation says public bodies subject to KOMA can take any actions they think are necessary and reasonable to keep their meetings open to the public without being physically present. Best practices, according to the Attorney General’s Office, include audio or video on the agency’s website or other Internet location, agenda or information posting online and giving as much advance notice as possible when meetings will not be open to the public and thus will be held online.
