Overview
- Kansas Senate voted 31-9 on February 17 and the House 87-37 on February 18 to override Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto, making SB 244 law upon its publication.
- The statute requires use of restrooms, locker rooms and similar single-sex spaces in government buildings based on sex assigned at birth, covering schools, universities and dorms, and it bans multi-stall gender-neutral bathrooms.
- The law bars gender-marker changes on driver’s licenses and birth certificates and directs the Department of Revenue to invalidate licenses that previously reflected a gender change.
- Enforcement includes fines on government entities ($25,000 for a first violation and $125,000 for subsequent ones), a $1,000 fine for an individual’s second offense, a misdemeanor for a third, and a private civil cause of action not clearly limited to public buildings.
- Lawmakers added the bathroom provisions through a late ‘gut-and-go’ maneuver without a public hearing, and critics, including Kelly and civil-rights groups, warn vague terms and narrow exceptions could produce sweeping unintended consequences and significant compliance costs.