Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach’s office has found that the Kansas State Board of Education (KSBE) and the Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE) violated the Kansas Open Records Act multiple times.
In a letter sent to Scott Gordon, KSDE general counsel, and attorney Mark Ferguson, who is retained by KSBE, Assistant Attorney General Braelyn Cummings of the Open Government Enforcement Unit, Kobach’s office received six complaints alleging violations of KORA by the two entities.
In four of the cases, Cummings found the law was violated.
In one case Kathryn Vander Griend asked for contracts, engagement letters, or agreements between the KSBE and Mark Ferguson; invoices, billing statements, and other documentation of engagement and payment provided by Mr. Ferguson to the KSBE; documentation of the scope of work or purpose; written communication concerning a letter to Board Member Debby Potter from Mr. Ferguson, dated November 18, 2025; all written communications between Cathy Hopkins and Mr. Ferguson mentioning Debby Potter between July 1, 2025 and December 12, 2025; and a copy of KSBE’s policy for approval of payment for legal services.
According to the letter, Ferguson denied the request for written communications, claiming it was “vague, ambiguous, and overly broad,” and asserting that any and all communications between him and the board were privileged.
Cummings noted the communications request “was not unlimited in time or scope,” and simply asked for “certain communications mentioning Debby Potter within a date range of less than six months.”
As a result of the complaints, Cummings asked that KSBE and KSDE review their internal procedures to ensure they accurately and completely respond to all KORA requests and charge reasonable fees.
In addition, Cummings asked that they attend at least one hour of KORA training within 45 days of the date of the letter, provide a copy of any training materials for the AG’s review, and confirm in writing that the “remedial actions” have been taken.
The Sentinel asked Gordon and Board Chair Cathy Hopkins whether an appeal of the decision was pending, whether they would provide the data requested by the complainants, and whether they would comply with the AG’s request to attend training.
As of publication, no response has been made.
Kansas education groups and the State Board of Education have a habit of ignoring state laws they don’t like, including the at-risk spending requirements, having local school boards conduct building needs assessments, and having an accreditation system based on academic improvement.
Ferguson has a history of trying to suppress information
In November of last year, The Sentinel reported that Ferguson sent Potter a series of letters detailing “concerns” he had about Potter’s “behavior.”
Potter was chastised for communicating with vendors and with parents, and Ferguson refused to confirm or deny whether he was writing on behalf of the board.
The Sentinel asked Ferguson if he had been directed by anyone to write the letters, and why he felt it was appropriate to reprimand an elected official.
Ferguson declined to answer those questions, but he did respond, attempting to prevent public disclosure of his actions.
“As legal counsel to the Board, I do not authorize the Kansas Sentinel or any reporter to publish any portion of any privileged communications, including any portion of the letters which you refer to in the email below.”
The Sentinel gave Ferguson another opportunity to answer the questions, but he only attempted to prevent this story from being published.
“You may have permission from Ms. Potter to publish the letters. However, any permission granted by Ms. Potter would be given in her individual capacity and not on behalf of the entire Board,” he wrote. “Therefore, attorney-client privilege is not waived. Further, you do not have my permission as attorney to the Board, and these are not documents which are subject to KORA or KOMA.
“This is an important point because I want to make it very clear that neither my client, nor I as their attorney, have an intent to waive the attorney-client privilege. To my knowledge, all communications on this subject matter have been between lawyer and client.”
At no point in his letters or in his conversation with Ms. Potter did Ferguson indicate that he was acting at the request of the KSBOE, but he does acknowledge that Potter granted permission for The Sentinel to show the public what is going on behind the scenes.
