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Read. Follow. Verify.Kansas Legislature considers KIRK Act to establish campus free speech protections and civil penalties for public universities
Last action · April 10, 2026: Died in House Committee
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What This Bill Proposed
The Kansas Legislature proposed the Kansas Intellectual Rights and Knowledge (KIRK) Act, which prohibits public postsecondary institutions from restricting non-commercial expressive activities to designated and establishes statutory civil damages starting at $500 for violations. The bill authorizes students and student associations to exercise political and ideological beliefs without institutional discrimination regarding benefits or leadership requirements, while amending existing statutes K.S.A. 60-5311, 60-5312, and 60-5313.
Public universities and their agents would lose sovereign immunity from suit for expressive rights violations, making institutions directly liable for minimum statutory damages of $500 plus $50 per day of continuing non-compliance, alongside mandatory attorney fees.
- The measure builds upon existing Kansas statutes (K.S.A. 60-5311 through 60-5313) originally enacted to protect religious student associations on public university campuses. context
- The bill references national debates surrounding campus free speech and invokes landmark Supreme Court precedent regarding public universities as the marketplace of ideas. context
Who It Would Have Affected
Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Students and Student Associations
Students and recognized associations gain explicit public forum protections in outdoor campus areas, the right to maintain ideological leadership requirements without losing institutional benefits, and a direct civil cause of action for violations.
Postsecondary Educational Institutions
Public universities lose sovereign immunity regarding expressive rights violations, must abolish free speech zones, are subject to mandatory reporting requirements, and face minimum statutory damages and legal fees for non-compliance.
Campus Administrators and Faculty
Individuals responsible for student discipline or education must undergo training on institutional free expression policies and ensure compliance with statutory reporting rules.
Key Facts
You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can universities require student groups to abandon ideological leadership requirements?
What damages can an individual recover if their campus free speech rights are violated?
Are universities allowed to set up designated free speech zones?
What else do you want to know?
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Died in committee.
Procedural history
15 actions- Apr 10, 2026HouseDied in House Committee
- Mar 11, 2026HouseIntroducedReceived and Introduced
- Mar 11, 2026HouseCommitteeReferred to House Committee on Education
- Mar 10, 2026SenateCommittee of the Whole - Now working on
- Mar 10, 2026SenateCommittee of the Whole - Motion to Amend - Offered by
- Mar 10, 2026SenateCommittee of the Whole - Amendment by was rejected
Show 9 earlier actions
- Mar 10, 2026SenateFloorCommittee of the Whole - Be passed
- Mar 10, 2026Senatefa_fabc_912
- Mar 10, 2026SenateFloorEmergency Final Action - Passed
- Mar 2, 2026SenateWithdrawn from and referred to Committee of the Whole
- Feb 27, 2026SenateWithdrawn from Calendar; Referred to Senate Committee on Ways and Means
- Feb 10, 2026SenateFloorCommittee Report recommending bill be passed by
- Feb 4, 2026SenateHearing: Wednesday, February 4, 2026, 1:30 PM — Room 144-S
- Jan 29, 2026SenateCommitteeReferred to Senate Committee on Education
- Jan 28, 2026SenateIntroducedIntroduced
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Expansion of Student Association Protections
The bill broadens existing religious student association protections under K.S.A. 60-5312 to explicitly encompass political and ideological student associations.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.kslegislature.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 75)
- Controversy85Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz40Current news / social attention level
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