HB 2160 Kansas House · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Enacting the municipal employee whistleblower act to provide statutory protections for municipal employees who report or disclose unlawful or dangerous conduct.

HB 2160 creates the Kansas municipal employee whistleblower act, protecting employees of cities, counties, school districts, and other local government units from retaliation when reporting certain issues. The law prohibits supervisors from taking disciplinary action against employees who disclose violations of law, unsafe conditions, misuse of public funds, or specific dangers to public health or safety to authorities or the public. Employees facing retaliation can sue within 90 days for damages and attorney fees, and local governments must prominently post the law for all staff to see. This law directly affects municipal workers who report wrongdoing, ensuring they can speak up without fear of job loss or punishment.
Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2025
Committee Review
Mar 2025
House Passage
Feb 2025
Senate Passage
Mar 2025
Signed into Law
Apr 2025
Introduced Jan 30, 2025 Signed Apr 10, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 4 comparisons

What changed between versions

As Amended by Senate Committee on Local Government, Transparency and Ethics {As Amended by Senate Committee of the Whole} · 2 edits
MINOR
The bill was amended to clarify the administrative appeal process for municipal employees facing disciplinary action. A new exception was added to ensure that only employees eligible for an internal administrative appeal can use that specific process, while others must go directly to court. Additionally, a typo was corrected to change 'auditing agency' to 'municipality' in the description of who can be disciplined.
Scope change
The scope of the administrative appeal mechanism was narrowed to apply only to employees who are already eligible for an internal municipal appeal process.
ELIGIBILITY

Added a condition stating that the administrative appeal option is only available to officers or employees who are eligible to administratively appeal disciplinary actions under existing municipal rules; those not eligible must sue in court.

TECHNICAL

Corrected a typo in the text where 'auditing agency's action' was changed to 'municipality's action' to accurately reflect that the municipality is the entity taking the disciplinary action.

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
23
Key actions
16
Committee
9
Apr 10, 2025
Signed into law
Approved by Governor on Monday, April 7, 2025
lower
Mar 26, 2025
Lower · Passed
Conference Committee Report was adopted; Yea 122, Nay 0, Absent 3
lower
Mar 26, 2025
Upper · Passed
Conference Committee Report was adopted; Yea 40, Nay 0
upper
Mar 26, 2025
Upper · Passed
Conference committee report now available
upper
Mar 24, 2025
Upper · Passed
Motion to accede adopted; Sen. Elaine Bowers, Sen. Ronald Ryckman and Sen. Oletha Faust Goudeau appointed as conferees
upper
Mar 24, 2025
Lower · Passed
Nonconcurred with amendments; Conference Committee requested; appointed Rep. Emil Bergquist, Rep. Doug Blex and Rep. Linda Featherston
lower
Mar 20, 2025
Upper · Passed
Emergency Final Action - Passed as amended; Yea 40, Nay 0
upper
Mar 20, 2025
Upper · Passed
Committee of the Whole - Be passed as further amended
upper
Mar 20, 2025
Upper · Passed
Committee of the Whole - Amendment by Sen. William Clifford was adopted
upper
Mar 20, 2025
Upper · Passed
Committee of the Whole - Motion to Amend - Offered by Sen. William Clifford
upper
Mar 20, 2025
Upper · Passed
Committee of the Whole - Committee Report be adopted
upper
Mar 17, 2025
Upper · Passed
Committee Report recommending bill be passed as amended by Senate Committee on Local Government, Transparency and Ethics
upper
Feb 26, 2025
Committee
Referred to Senate Committee on Local Government, Transparency and Ethics
upper
Feb 25, 2025
Introduced
Received and Introduced
upper
Feb 20, 2025
Lower · Passed
Final Action - Passed as amended; Yea 121, Nay 0, Absent 4
lower
Feb 19, 2025
Lower · Passed
Committee of the Whole - Be passed as amended
lower
Feb 19, 2025
Lower · Passed
Committee of the Whole - Committee Report be adopted
lower
Feb 18, 2025
Lower · Passed
Committee Report recommending bill be passed as amended by House Committee on Local Government
lower
Jan 30, 2025
Committee
Referred to House Committee on Local Government
lower
Jan 30, 2025
Introduced
Introduced
lower
0 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

No sponsor information available.