Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach sued Gov. Laura Kelly and Department for Children and Families secretary Laura Howard to push them to release data to the federal government. Judge Teresa Watson will make a decision by Sept. 29 on whether to dismiss the case. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)
TOPEKA — A lawsuit filed by Attorney General Kris Kobach to force Kansas leaders to turn over data requested by the federal government heated up this week with sharply worded filings.
Kobach sued Gov. Laura Kelly and Department for Children and Family secretary Laura Howard on Sept. 9, demanding they turn over personal information of more than 700,000 Kansans who applied for or received food aid through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Kobach announced the lawsuit in a news conference the day before.
In a motion to dismiss filed Monday, Kelly and Howard’s attorneys called the action “a sad political stunt.”
“Respondents are following the law, and this case is a sad political stunt by the Attorney General as evidenced by the fact that he chose to litigate via press conference before filing this case or even bothering to confer with Respondents, who would have told him: do not panic, Kansas has a plan to preserve the funding of the State’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) program, while ensuring the privacy of approximately seven hundred thirty thousand individuals, consistent with data privacy obligations under state and federal law,” the motion said.
On Thursday, Kobach pushed back in his response: “Respondents have chosen to defy Kansas and federal law and risk millions of dollars that ultimately help the most vulnerable Kansans. It appears that their ‘plan’ is to do nothing and hope that no one will require them to follow the plain text of the law. Their route is neither tenable nor lawful.”
After a hearing on Thursday, Shawnee County District Judge Teresa Watson said she would make a decision on Sept. 29 regarding the motion to dismiss.
Kelly and Howard’s 191-page motion to dismiss the case reiterates explanations Howard has given that turning over the data may violate privacy rights of Kansans and explained how they are working to resolve the situation.
They pointed to a California lawsuit in which multiple states contend the U.S. Department of Agriculture doesn’t have the right to the requested SNAP data.
On Thursday, the judge in the national case issued a temporary restraining order stopping the USDA from acting on the warning letters it has sent to states that said SNAP funding will be lost.
The state received a letter in August from former Kansas Rep. Patrick Penn, who is now the USDA deputy under secretary of Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services, warned that Kansas could lose federal funding for SNAP administrative expenses if it did not submit the data.
Howard has said Kansas officials are concerned about releasing the data and the liability they could face if the California-led lawsuit determines the USDA should not receive the data.
Kobach’s filings in the case against Howard and Kelly said Kansas statutes require the state comply with the federal government’s request and that their “brazen noncompliance” establishes their guilt.
“Federal punishment aside, Respondents are state officers refusing to follow clear and direct commands within state law, so this mandamus action is ripe,” the Kobach filing said. “Moreover, the State possesses standing to bring its suit, which is anchored in state law that requires Respondents to cooperate with the federal government. Federal law does not prevent the State from seeking injunctive relief.”
In their filing to dismiss the action, Kelly and Howard said the data cannot be “meaningfully” recalled once it is submitted.
“The damage to the privacy and the loss of trust would be immeasurable,” their filing said.
