SCHMITT ENDS POTENTIAL FUTURE THREATS FROM THE GOVERNOR

Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt on Monday, issued a statement on the signing into law of 2020 Special Session House Bill 2016… the COVID-19 response bill enacted by the Legislature in special session last week. Schmitt said the legislation permanently decriminalizes violations of governors’ emergency orders. No longer may Kansans be threatened with arrest, prosecution and imprisonment for going to work to earn a living, leaving their homes without government permission or gathering at church to worship. Nor will law enforcement officers throughout the state any longer face the burden of determining whether any particular emergency order is ‘lawful’ and thus the basis for arresting a citizen. He said while a governor’s lawful emergency orders are still enforceable, now an impartial judge in a civil, not criminal, proceeding must approve the state’s enforcement actions before the liberties of citizens may be disturbed by the government.