Kansas AG asked to investigate commerce department handling of records request

Americans for Prosperity Foundation of Kansas filed a complaint Wednesday asking Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach's office to investigate the state Department of Commerce for records request delays. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)

TOPEKA — A libertarian organization requested the Kansas Attorney General investigate the state Department of Commerce for failing to respond to an open records request and demanded the records be turned over within 10 days.

The Americans for Prosperity Foundation of Kansas filed a complaint Wednesday with Attorney General Kris Kobach’s office based on a request it sent to the commerce department in January for copies of annual and quarterly reports detailing the performance of the Attracting Powerful Economic Expansion Act, or APEX.

APEX provided the framework to lure big businesses to Kansas, which included Panasonic in 2022 with a $1.3 billion incentive package and a semiconductor company in 2023 with $304 million in tax incentives.

The foundation’s Kansas director, Elizabeth Patton, said in a news release the commerce department needs to be held accountable for its apparent disinterest in complying with open records law.

“The APEX program doled out over $1 billion in incentives to favored companies. The public deserves to be able to inspect the quarterly and annual reports the law required Commerce to complete,” she said.

The department hasn’t responded to the foundation’s inquiries since its original reply on Jan. 9, foundation spokesperson, Dana Stancavage, wrote in the news release. According to the complaint, Kevin Schmidt, the foundation’s director of investigations, contacted the commerce department via email on three occasions — in February, May and August — for an update on the status of the request. He was met with no response, the complaint showed.

This is the second such complaint the foundation has filed with the Attorney General’s office. It filed one in December 2022 related to a 2021 request to the commerce department for studies, reports and communications related to state tax and revenue bonds, also known as STAR bonds. At the time, commerce officials said the foundation’s request sought “ voluminous documents ,” which prompted the delay.

“Open government should be a priority for the AG’s office, and for all state agencies. Without strong oversight, agencies like the Department of Commerce are flouting the law and keeping the public in the dark,” Patton said in an email.

The complaint is one of several open records complaints awaiting the Attorney General’s review, including one from Kansas Reflector, which was filed April 13, 2023.

Neither the commerce department nor the Attorney General’s office immediately responded to the Reflector’s questions Wednesday.