Latest Kansas state government News

FILE - In this Feb. 13, 2019, file photo, state Sen. Barbara Bollier, D-Mission Hills, speaks during a meeting of Democratic senators at the Statehouse in Topeka, Kan. Bollier is pitching herself as a “voice of reason” with a decade's worth of working with lawmakers from both parties (AP Photo/John Hanna File)

Kansas Democrats excited about ex-GOP lawmaker's Senate bid

Aug. 8, 2020 9:03 AM EDT

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Democrats are pinning their unusually high hopes for winning a U.S. Senate seat in Kansas for the first time in almost 90 years on a retired doctor and former Republican who vexed conservatives with her support for Medicaid expansion and abortion and LGBTQ rights. State Sen. Barbara...

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly discusses an executive order requiring mask wearing and daily temperature checks in all public and private K-12 schools during a news conference, Monday, July 20, 2020, at the Statehouse in Topeka, Kan. Kelly also wants to delay the reopening of schools from mid-August to after Labor Day but needs the State Board of Education's approval. (AP Photo/John Hanna)

Governor tests negative; Kansas COVID-19 cases jump past 30K

Aug. 7, 2020 5:36 PM EDT

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly tested negative for the coronavirus Friday as a Republican legislative leader faced criticism from some Democrats for not telling colleagues until this week that he’d been infected and hospitalized before he, Kelly and other top lawmakers had a public...

Kansas House Speaker Ron Ryckman Jr., R-Olathe, speaks with reporters following a meeting of legisative leaders with Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly, Friday, June 26, 2020, at the Statehouse in Topeka, Kan. Ryckman says a plan from Kelly to erase a budget shortfall that arose amid the coronavirus pandemic merely pushes the state's financial problems off a year. (AP Photo/John Hanna)

Kansas House speaker had coronavirus; governor to get tested

Aug. 6, 2020 11:23 PM EDT

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A top Republican legislator in Kansas was hospitalized last month after testing positive for the novel coronavirus and didn't disclose it to colleagues until this week. The state's Democratic governor declared Thursday that she'll get tested because the two of them attended a meeting...

Surrounded by family, Jake LaTurner talks to reporters after winning the Republican primary for Kansas' 2nd Congressional District, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2020, in Topeka, Kan. (Evert Nelson/The Topeka Capital-Journal via AP)

Kansas Rep. Watkins unseated after facing criminal charges

Aug. 5, 2020 12:45 AM EDT

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Freshman Kansas Rep. Steve Watkins lost his Republican primary Tuesday after being charged with felony election fraud and other crimes. State Treasurer Jake LaTurner unseated Watkins after arguing that the criminal charges against Watkins made an already vulnerable incumbent an even...

Roger Marshall pumps his fist after speaking to supporters near Pawnee Rock, Kan., Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2020, after defeating Kris Kobach in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate. (Travis Heying/The Wichita Eagle via AP)

Kansas GOP picks Rep. Marshall for Senate seat over Kobach

Aug. 4, 2020 11:35 PM EDT

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Republicans on Tuesday nominated Rep. Roger Marshall for the Senate over polarizing conservative Kris Kobach, heeding the party establishment’s advice as it tries to keep a normally safe seat out of play in what could be a difficult year for the GOP. Marshall prevailed...

Agency probed abuse reports months before Kansas girl slain

Jul. 31, 2020 6:03 PM EDT

BELLE PLAINE, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas child welfare agency determined Friday that a 3-year-old girl whose battered body was found this month died as the result of child abuse, a belated finding that comes months after the agency first received reports of abuse. Laura Howard, Secretary for the Kansas...

Kris Kobach, left, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in Kansas, speaks with supporters Bill Vonderschmidt, center, and Bob Sines, both from Hiawatha, Kan., Wednesday, July 29, 2020, during a meet-and-greet event in Holton, Kan. Kobach is locked in a tight race with western Kansas Rep. Roger Marshall for the GOP nomination. (AP Photo/John Hanna)

GOP leaders can't bank on Trump's help in Kansas Senate race

Jul. 31, 2020 5:56 PM EDT

HOLTON, Kan. (AP) — Establishment Republican leaders are scrambling to pull out a win in a tense party battle for the nomination in the Kansas Senate race, and they won't be able to count on last-minute help from President Donald Trump. Trump has signaled to allies and aides that he won't endorse in the...

Fort Hays State University President Tisa Mason told the Hays City Commission at its regular meeting in City Hall on Thursday, July 23, 2020, in Hays, Kan., that the university will require face masks on campus when nearly 4,000 students return in August, and said a consistent message from the city would be helpful. (Margaret Allen/The Hays Daily News via AP)

City in Kansas requiring masks to guard 'safe' reputation

Jul. 31, 2020 5:56 PM EDT

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Officials in a college town in conservative western Kansas are embracing a mask ordinance in hopes of making residents and incoming students feel safe, even as surrounding communities have balked at such efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus. City officials in Hays, home to...

FILE - In this Aug. 26, 2019 file photo, U.S. Rep. Steve Watkins, R-Kan., makes a point during a town hall meeting in Topeka, Kan. Watkins, a Kansas congressman facing felony voting fraud charges told a detective he didn't vote in a 2019 Topeka city council election, according to an affidavit in support of criminal charges. Freshman Rep. Watkins is facing three felony charges. (AP Photo/John Hanna File)

Detective: Kansas congressman lied about voting in 2019 race

Jul. 30, 2020 11:59 AM EDT

LIBERTY, Mo. (AP) — A detective who investigated Rep. Steve Watkins wrote in an affidavit that the Kansas congressman told her he didn't vote in a 2019 Topeka City Council election, despite evidence showing he had cast a ballot in the race after listing a UPS store as his home address. The affidavit...

In this photo provided by tavern owner Erin Wright, people gather outside the Towns End Tavern in Sharon Springs, Kan., Wednesday, July 22, 2020. The tavern isn't requiring customers to wear masks, but it is asking questions about their travels if they come from outside Wallace County, which is one of the last two in Kansas to have no reported coronavirus cases. (Erin Wright via AP)

No masks, just questions, in Kansas counties with no cases

Jul. 24, 2020 3:58 PM EDT

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Some businesses in two western Kansas counties that have yet to report a single positive coronavirus case aren’t requiring customers to wear face masks — but they are asking whether they have traveled outside the county. Business owners in Rawlins and Wallace counties say...

LOADING MORE STORIES