The COVID Project
The record
- Jurisdiction
- Kansas
- Level
- State
- Authority
- K.S.A. 60-5502(j) (L. 2020, ch. 1, § 9 (Special Session), as amended L. 2021, ch. 35, § 1)
- Issued
- 2020-06-09 June 9, 2020
- Effective
- June 9, 2020 (retroactive application of the Act to causes of action accruing on or after March 12, 2020, HB 2016 § 15) (read as 2020-06-09)
- End
- standing (the immunity sections it defines expired March 31, 2022) (read as 2022-03-31)
- In force
- Standing since June 9, 2020 (a statutory duty; in force throughout the six quarters)
- Quarters
- 2020 Q22020 Q32020 Q42021 Q12021 Q22021 Q3
2020 Q22020 Q32020 Q42021 Q12021 Q22021 Q3
- Limitation types
- Workplace rulesStanding dutyOperating condition
- Addressees
- persons conducting business in Kansas; health care providers; covered facilities (adult care homes and others)
- Character
- liability shield condition
- Collection
- Standing duties: Kansas DUT-KS
Operative words
"Public health directives" means any of the following that is required by law to be followed related to public health and COVID-19: (1) State statutes, rules and regulations or executive orders...; (2) federal statutes or regulations from federal agencies, including the United States centers for disease control and prevention and the occupational safety and health administration
Penalty
loss of immunity from civil liability for COVID-19 claims (K.S.A. 60-5504, DUT-KS-015)
What it required
Defines the standard of care the Act's immunity turns on: the 'public health directives' a business had to be 'acting pursuant to and in substantial compliance with' were the State statutes, rules and executive orders, the federal statutes and regulations of CDC and OSHA, and (from April 22, 2021, in terms) 'any lawful order or proclamation issued under authority of the Kansas emergency management act... by a board of county commissioners, the governing body of a city or a local health officer'; the Legislature thereby declared that compliance with those directives 'is required by law.'
Retrieval noteThe June 9, 2020 enacted text of the definition (HB 2016 § 9(j), paragraphs (1)-(3) identical in substance) is in KS-027 at 6; the adult-care-facility affirmative defense in HB 2016 § 13 carries the same two-part definition. The history line 'L. 2021, ch. 35, § 1; April 22' fixes the amendment date.