SESSION OF 2020
SUPPLEMENTAL NOTE ON HOUSE BILL NO. 2438
As Recommended by House Committee on
Children and Seniors

Brief*
HB 2438 would amend provisions in the statute
governing the State Child Death Review Board (Board)
regarding confidentiality of information acquired by and
records of the Board. Specifically, the bill would clarify the
language of a current exception to this confidentiality for
certain legislators and legislative committees, and would add
the following additional exceptions to confidentiality to allow
the Board or the Board’s designee to disclose information and
records to:
● Any person or entity contracting with the Board, if
the Board determines disclosure is essential for
completion of the contract and has taken
appropriate steps to preserve confidentiality;
● Any person or entity, if the information and records
being disclosed are statistics or conclusions of the
Board of the same type included in the Board’s
annual report;
● Any Kansas state or local law enforcement agency,
if the Board determines the information and
records being disclosed were not previously
available to the law enforcement agency for the
investigation of the cause of the child’s death, and
the cause of the child’s death was from abuse or
neglect;

____________________
*Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research
Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental
note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at
http://www.kslegislature.org
● Any county or district attorney, if the Board
determines the information and records being
disclosed were not previously available to the
county or district attorney for the prosecution of any
crimes related to the cause of the child’s death,
and the cause of the child’s death was from abuse
or neglect;
● Any licensing body, as defined elsewhere in
statute, if:
○ The information and records being disclosed
are related to a disciplinary complaint against
a person licensed by such licensing body;
○ Any member of the Board is under a
professional obligation to make a disciplinary
complaint against a person licensed by such
licensing body; or
○ A person licensed by such licensing body may
have caused or contributed to the child’s
death; and
● A governmental agency or an organization that has
a federalwide assurance (FWA) for the protection
of human subjects in good standing with the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services Officer
for Human Research Protections, if:
○ The agency or organization provides
documents that an institutional review board
designated in the FWA has reviewed the
organization’s research proposal;
○ Personally identifiable information is redacted
from the disclosure;
○ The disclosure is only for the purpose of
health or education; and
○ The agency or organization requires all
persons granted access to the disclosed
information and records to sign a
confidentiality agreement prior to receipt of
the information and records.
2- 2438
 The bill also would make a technical amendment to
ensure consistency in statutory phrasing.

Background
The bill was introduced by Representative Concannon.
In the House Committee on Children and Seniors
hearing, representatives of the Board, the National Center for
Fatality Review and Prevention, and the Kansas County and
District Attorneys Association testified in support of the bill,
stating the bill would allow information related to the Board’s
work to be disclosed for additional limited purposes related to
law enforcement investigations, professional licensure
disciplinary complaints, record keeping, and approved
research projects. Written-only proponent testimony was
submitted by representatives of the Kansas Department of
Health and Environment and Safe Kids Kansas and by a
representative of the Kansas Association of Chiefs of Police,
Kansas Peace Officers Association, and Kansas Sheriffs’
Association. No other testimony was provided.
According to the fiscal note prepared by the Division of
the Budget on the bill, the Office of the Attorney General
(Office) indicates enactment of the bill would allow the Board
to participate in a national database that is free for
participating states, allowing for a cost savings of
approximately $10,000 per fiscal year spent to maintain a
legacy database. The Office may receive case referrals from
county or district attorneys to request case prosecution, but
the Office cannot predict the number of additional cases that
could arise or how complex and time-consuming they could
be. Thus, a precise fiscal effect cannot be determined. Any
fiscal effect associated with enactment of the bill is not
reflected in The FY 2021 Governor’s Budget Report.


3- 2438


Statutes affected:
As introduced: