Kansas Shield Law Repels First Test

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Kansas' shield law (Senate Substitute for H.B. 2585), passed five months ago, served The Wichita Eagle well in its inaugural run last week.


Sedgwick County District Judge Willliam Woolley ruled that the Eagle did not have to disclose the identities of confidential sources it relied on for a story about the accidental death of a child last March. Counsel for the mother of the 5-year-old victim in a negligence/wrongful death action subpoenaed an Eagle reporter. Judge Woolley held that all other potential avenues for obtaining information must be exhausted before seeking the information from a journalist by means of subpoena.


The Kansas shield law requires a party seeking previously undisclosed information to make a reasonable effort to obtain the information initially in ways other than subpoenaing journalists.  In this case, Judge Woolley said the material could likely be obtained through discovery options available to litigants, such as interrogatories and requests for production of documents.