Transcripts show Kansas lawmakers didn't know law

TOPEKA -- Dozens of Kansas legislators questioned about private dinners with Gov. Sam Brownback at his official residence weren't well-versed in the state's Open Meetings Act, transcripts of their interviews show.

The lawmakers were interviewed as part of a prosecutor's investigation of the dinners. Few had read the open meetings law, and most reported receiving no formal training on how to avoid violating it, the transcripts showed. They had little written guidance other than a section in their legislative guidebook.

Shawnee County District Attorney Chad Taylor released transcripts of interviews conducted by two deputies with 53 legislators regarding seven dinner meetings held in January at Cedar Crest, the governor's residence. The lawmakers sat on 13 legislative committees and almost all were Republicans, like Brownback.

Taylor, a Democrat, concluded last month that legislators violated the Kansas Open Meetings Act, scolded them publicly and admonished them to become better informed about the law's requirements. But he did not pursue further action, saying he could prove only “technical” violations.

An exchange between Taylor's deputies and Rep. Joe Scapa, a Wichita Republican, was typical of the interviews, Scapa was asked about two dinners to which he was invited, and he said the law wasn't violated. Pressed to explain, he told Taylor's deputies, “Because that's what I believe.”

“I don't know how to explain it to you, but that's what I know,” Scapa said, according the transcript.

Despite not being well-versed in the Open Meetings Act, most of the legislators interviewed said they were confident they hadn't violated it. Many said the dinners didn't feel like “meetings” because food was served, and it was a social atmosphere.

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