Kansas Senate passes bill to give AG veto authority over local lawsuits he doesn’t like
The Senate passed legislation that would require local governments to get Attorney General Kris Kobach's approval before entering lawsuits where attorneys are working on a contingency fee. Kobach is seen here at a March 6, 2026, hearing in Douglas County District Court. (Photo by Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)
TOPEKA — The way Sen. Kellie Warren tells it, House Bill 2593 “concerns state sovereignty versus political subdivisions of the state.”
The bill “helps enforce the constitutional and legal framework when political subdivisions of the state wish to engage in litigation through the use of attorneys on a contingency fee basis,” the Leawood Republican said during debate Wednesday on the Senate floor.
In plain English, the bill gives Attorney General Kris Kobach the power to block cities and counties from filing lawsuits he doesn’t like for ideological reasons.
The legislation is a response to Ford County in 2024 suing ExxonMobil, Chevron, Dow Chemical, Dupont and other companies for “a decades-long campaign of fraud and deception” about recycling plastics. The lawsuit argues that defendants have known since the 1950s that most plastic waste is not recyclable but continued to produce and promote plastics anyway.
Kobach intervened in the federal case, but a spokeswoman for his office said the court hasn’t granted his wish to dismiss Ford County, which remains one of the plaintiffs.
Last year, the Legislature passed a similar bill to give Kobach authority over such lawsuits, but the bill didn’t have enough support to override the governor’s veto.
HB 2593 limits the attorney general’s authority to cases, like the one brought by Ford County, where attorneys are working for a contingency fee. That means the attorneys are only paid if they win, at which point they would receive a percentage of the financial recovery.
Warren referenced the Ford County case, without naming the county, as an example of a “political subdivision” attempting to exceed its legal authority.
“We see sometimes this in, for instance, there was some regarding oil and gas industry, right?” Warren said. “One political subdivision wants to sue oil and gas companies for improperly impacting the climate, and other subdivisions don’t. And are you going to get a broad settlement that sometimes impacts other political subdivisions or the state without their consent?”
Warren also said the bill would promote transparency because it requires local governments to hold a public meeting and public vote before submitting a proposal to Kobach for approval. The AG would have to submit an annual report to the governor and Legislature about each instance in which he refused to approve a contract for litigation.
She didn’t mention that the bill includes an exemption to the state’s open records law, ensuring Kobach’s decision-making will be shrouded in secrecy.
Sen. Ethan Corson, a Fairway Democrat who is seeking his party’s nomination for governor, said he opposed the legislation “because I think it really has us micromanaging in city government.”
“That’s not helpful,” Corson said. “There was really no testimony that this is a problem in Kansas, that this is an issue that rises to something that the legislature needs to address.”
The legislation was introduced in January on behalf of the Attorney General’s Office. The only proponents were the AG’s office, the Kansas Chamber of Commerce and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform. Cities, counties, school boards, attorneys and private citizens opposed the bill.
Corson said cities were “fully capable” of making decisions for their residents.
“I also don’t think it’s appropriate that the attorney general would essentially have a veto power over whether or not a city could exercise its right to pursue a legal claim, and they believe that they have suffered a legal wrong, and they have every right to pursue that claim,” Corson said.
The Senate narrowly passed the bill Thursday with a 23-17 vote. The House passed a version of the bill 77-45 on Feb. 19.
The two chambers would have to work out minor differences between their versions of the bill before voting again to send it to Gov. Laura Kelly.
Correction: A federal court judge has yet to rule on the attorney general’s motion to dismiss Ford County from the case. An earlier version of this story incorrectly summarized the status of the case.