Opinion ID: 1129577
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: kbi investigative reports

Text: The 1988 Kansas Legislature amended K.S.A. 1987 Supp. 74-8804 to allow the Commission to obtain background investigative reports on each licensure applicant. K.S.A. 1988 Supp. 74-8804 provides: (n) The commission may receive from the Kansas bureau of investigation or other criminal justice agencies such criminal history record information (including arrest and nonconviction data), criminal intelligence information and information relating to criminal and background investigations as necessary for the purpose of determining qualifications of licensees of and applicants for licensure by the commission. Disclosure or use of any such information received by the commission, or of any record containing such information, for any purpose other than that provided by this subsection is a class A misdemeanor and shall constitute grounds for removal from office, termination of employment or denial, revocation or suspension of any license issued under this act. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to make unlawful the disclosure of any such information by the commission in a hearing held pursuant to this act. (o) The commission, in accordance with K.S.A. 75-4319 and amendments thereto, may recess for a closed or executive meeting to receive and discuss information received by the commission pursuant to subsection (n) and to negotiate with licensees of or applicants for licensure by the commission regarding any such information. Pursuant to this amendment, the Commission recessed into executive session and received information from KBI background investigations of the applicants. Principals of most applicants were subsequently summoned into executive sessions to discuss these background reports. However, WCEDC's principals were neither summoned to discuss their background reports nor granted a meeting. KRM and WCEDC requested but were denied access to the KBI investigative reports without receiving an explanation by the Commission for the denial. However, from the record on appeal, it appears that the Commission's policy was to keep the KBI reports confidential and only reveal portions of these reports to the various applicants interviewed in executive sessions. It is appellants' contention that the Commission's refusal to disclose these KBI investigative reports violates provisions of the Act, legislative intent, and their constitutional due process rights. Statutory basis for disclosure It is the Commission's position that since the Act imposes penalties for disclosure of KBI investigative reports, its disclosure of any information contained within the reports is prohibited. In addition, the Commission argues that its disclosure of any information contained in the criminal investigation records of any law enforcement agency is also prohibited by the Kansas Open Records Act (KORA), K.S.A. 45-215 et seq. We disagree with the Commission's narrow interpretation of the acts. Though the KORA is a general act which requires the records of public agencies to be open to the public, it does not require a public agency to disclose all of the information contained in its records to the public. K.S.A. 1988 Supp. 45-221(a)(10)(A)-(E) specifically provides that a public agency cannot be compelled to disclose criminal investigation records unless an action is first brought for that purpose and the court finds disclosure is in the public interest. However, the statute specifically prohibits the court from requiring the public agency to disclose its criminal investigation records if disclosure would: (1) interfere with prospective law enforcement action; (2) reveal the identity of confidential sources or undercover agents; (3) reveal confidential investigative techniques or procedures; or (4) endanger the life or physical safety of any person. It is important to note that the KORA defines criminal investigation records as records of an investigatory agency or criminal justice agency compiled in the process of  preventing, detecting or investigating violations of criminal law.  K.S.A. 45-217(b). (Emphasis supplied.) The KORA statutory exemption of criminal investigation information covers records related to the investigation of specific crimes or prospective law enforcement action, such as interviews with witnesses, affidavits, and notes and reports of investigative officers. See Frederickson, Letting the Sunshine In: An Analysis of the 1984 Kansas Open Records Act, 33 Kan. L. Rev. 205, 243 (1985). The Kansas Parimutuel Racing Act, K.S.A. 1988 Supp. 74-8804(n), allows the Commission to receive from the KBI or other criminal justice agencies such criminal history record information (including arrest and nonconviction data), criminal intelligence information, and information relating to criminal and background investigations as necessary for the purpose of determining qualifications of licensees of and applicants for licensure by the commission. The amendment also allows the Commission to recess into executive or closed session either to receive the background reports or to negotiate with potential licensees regarding the information. The data obtained through the law enforcement investigations supplements information provided by the applicants to the Commission. The statute clearly provides that the information contained in the background investigations may be disclosed by the Commission at any hearing held pursuant to the Act, and provides penalties only for disclosure for any other purpose. We acknowledge that the KORA contains the legislative statement that it is public policy for the public records of this state to be open for inspection by any person. K.S.A. 45-216. Harris Enterprises, Inc. v. Moore, 241 Kan. 59, 63, 734 P.2d 1083 (1987). However, contained in the KORA is a restriction upon public access to certain law enforcement information. A plain reading of K.S.A. 1988 Supp. 74-8804(n) indicates legislative intent to make both receipt and disclosure of information contained in background reports of the law enforcement agencies obtained for the Commission discretionary with the Commission. The statute provides that the information contained in background investigations may be discussed with license applicants at closed meetings or through regular Commission hearings. The Kansas Open Records Act is a general act that allows the courts to order disclosure of a public agency's criminal investigation reports, with certain stated exceptions. The Kansas Parimutuel Racing Act is a specific act that allows the Commission to disclose the substance of criminal investigation reports when determining the qualifications of applicants for licenses. The Kansas Parimutuel Racing Act does not require the court to determine whether the public interest would be served by disclosure of the information contained in the law enforcement agency's report to the Commission, but gives the Commission the right to make that decision. Even though the narrow issue here is disclosure of the information contained in the investigative reports to appellants, the subjects of the reports, we also answer the broader question of the power of the Commission to disclose the reports not only to the applicants, but also to the public. It is the duty of the court to reconcile different statutory provisions so as to make them consistent, harmonious, and sensible. NEA-Wichita v U.S.D. No. 259, 225 Kan. 395, 399, 592 P.2d 80 (1979) (citing Garden City Educators' Ass'n v. Vance, 224 Kan. 732, 585 P.2d 1057 [1978]). General and special statutes should be read together and harmonized whenever possible, but to the extent a conflict between them exists, the special statute will prevail unless it appears the legislature intended to make the general statute controlling. Board of Park Commissioners v. Board of County Commissioners, 206 Kan. 438, Syl. ¶ 1, 480 P.2d 81 (1971). The Commission incorrectly determined that written disclosure of any of the information contained in the background investigations in an executive session or at a regular Commission hearing violated the law. Likewise, appellants' claim that the legislature removed all restraints of the KORA on the Commission when it enacted the Parimutuel Racing Act is incorrect. Subject to specified restrictions, disclosure of KBI investigative reports to racing license applicants is permitted both under K.S.A. 1988 Supp. 74-8804 (n) and (o) and under the KORA. The Commission may but is not required to disclose information contained in the law enforcement agency's report that it determines is in the public interest if disclosure of that information does not violate the provisions of K.S.A. 1988 Supp. 45-221(a)(10)(A)-(E) by: (1) interfering with prospective law enforcement action; (2) exposing the identity of a confidential source or undercover agent; (3) revealing a confidential investigative technique or procedure not known by the applicant; or (4) endangering the life or safety of a person. Therefore, the Commission's decision to disclose the substance of the reports only to certain applicants in executive sessions was one of its options under the law. Due process Appellants argue that the Commission's refusal to disclose the KBI background investigations violated their due process rights under the Kansas and United States Constitutions. Initially, our analysis of this due process claim requires us to examine the nature of an applicant's interest in the grant of a license under the Act. The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that no state can deprive any person of life, liberty or property, without due process of law. Section 18 of the Bill of Rights of the Kansas Constitution provides that [a]ll persons, for injuries suffered in person, reputation or property, shall have remedy by due course of law, and justice administered without delay. Appellants claim that their license applications created both a protected property and liberty right in being awarded the licenses. When an interest involving life, liberty, or property is implicated, due process considerations apply. However, a protected due process right must encompass an interest recognized by the Constitution. Harrison v. Long, 241 Kan. 174, 178, 734 P.2d 1155 (1987) (citing Sinclair v. Schroeder, 225 Kan. 3, 8, 586 P.2d 683 [1978]). To prevail on their due process claim, appellants must show that they possess a definite liberty or property interest and that this interest was abridged, under color of state law, without appropriate process. See Board of Regents v. Roth, 408 U.S. 564, 569-79, 33 L.Ed.2d 548, 92 S.Ct. 2701 (1972). To establish a property interest in a particular benefit, appellant must have a legitimate claim of entitlement to it. Board of Regents v. Roth, 408 U.S. at 577. A person's interest in a benefit becomes a property interest for due process purposes if there are rules or mutually explicit understandings that support the claim of entitlement to the benefit and that the person may invoke at a hearing. Perry v. Sindermann, 408 U.S. 593, 601, 33 L.Ed.2d 570, 92 S.Ct. 2694 (1972). Without the existence of such rules or understandings, the person has only an abstract desire for or a unilateral expectation of the benefit. Board of Regents v. Roth, 408 U.S. at 577. In support of the claim that an applicant for a license under the Act has a property interest in the granting of the license, appellants cite Rydd v. State Board of Health, 202 Kan. 721, 451 P.2d 239 (1969). A careful analysis of Rydd demonstrates that it does not bear the striking similarity to this case claimed by appellants. Rydd involved the State Board of Health's denial of the appellant's application for state licensure of a group day care home without notice or a hearing. The Board's reason for denial of the license was that the applicant would not be able to give the proper amount of time to the children nor be of the proper temperament for looking after children. 202 Kan. at 723. Determining that Rydd's due process rights had been violated by the lack of notice and hearing, we observed that the license for a day care center was within the category of licenses which the State must grant if the applicant meets certain minimum requirements. We further noted that similar results had been reached in other cases involving the denial of licenses to practice law, an accountant's license to practice before the United States Board of Tax Appeals, and a license to conduct an employment agency based on the applicants' personal unfitness. 202 Kan. at 726-28, and cases cited therein. Then, after characterizing the denial of the licensure as based on an adjudication of the applicants' individual fitness and character, we held that procedural due process requires notice and an opportunity to be heard before [an applicant] may be denied a license on the ground of personal unfitness. 202 Kan. at 730. Here, the denial of the license to the appellants was not premised on the applicants' unfitness of character. More importantly, the license sought in Rydd belongs to that category of licenses which the State must grant if the applicant meets certain minimum requirements. In Rydd, the applicant for the day care license had a legitimate claim of entitlement to the license, assuming she met the statutory requirements for licensure. In contrast, here, the applicants are competing for licensure and the statute gives the Commission broad discretion to grant or deny a license to any or all of the applicants, even if the applicants have complied with statutory requirements. K.S.A. 1988 Supp. 74-8813(e) clearly provides: If an application is found to be in compliance and the commission finds that the issuance of the license would be within the best interests of horse and greyhound racing within this state ... as determined solely within the discretion of the commission, the commission may issue an organization license to the applicant. (Emphasis supplied.) In a recent case, Curtis Ambulance v. Shawnee Cty. Bd. of Cty. Com'rs, 811 F.2d 1371 (10th Cir.1987), the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals refused to recognize that a disappointed low bidder for a county ambulance contract had a property interest in receiving the contract. As that court noted, state law gave the board of county commissioners broad discretion in rejecting any and all bids. Since the appellant could point neither to any state law or mutually explicit understandings giving rise to a legitimate claim of entitlement to an award of the contract, nor to any local or state rules which sufficiently circumscribe the Board's authority to award the contract in dispute, Curtis had only a unilateral expectation of receiving the ambulance contract. 811 F.2d at 1384-85. Since the discretion of the Commission to grant a license to conduct racing activities is similarly unrestricted by 74-8813, no applicant can claim an entitlement or property interest in acquiring such a license. The choice of one applicant over another or the decision not to issue a license to any applicant is fully discretionary and is limited only by the arbitrary and capricious standard of K.S.A. 1988 Supp. 74-8813(v) and 74-8815(m). Appellants also claim they were entitled to due process protection because they possess a protected liberty interest. The concept of liberty is broad and includes the freedom to work and the protections of the person's good name. See Board of Regents v. Roth, 408 U.S. at 573. A person may be deprived of a liberty interest without due process if that person's standing in the community is damaged; if his reputation, honor, or integrity are questioned; or if a stigma or other disability is imposed upon him which forecloses his freedom to obtain and hold another job. Sinclair v. Schroeder, 225 Kan. 3, 9, 586 P.2d 683 (1978). In support of their claim of infringement upon their liberty interest, appellants note comments in the press regarding the KBI investigations and one comment made by the Chairman of the Racing Commission regarding the confidentiality of the KBI reports. Appellants then cite an Alabama statute which appears to provide that Alabama would deny licenses to appellants based on the denial of a similar license by the Kansas Racing Commission. Nothing in the public record has revealed any stigma to appellants as a result of the licensure process. The Commission made no finding of unfitness and, in fact, most members commented on the record about the excellent quality of all the applicants. Further, since the Commission had the discretion not to issue any license, appellants' failure to obtain a discretionary Kansas license and the possibility that they may be precluded from receiving a racing license in another state does not demonstrate appellants were deprived of a protected liberty interest. Appellants have failed to show either a protectable property or liberty interest under the Act which entitles them to due process protections. We note that a similar result was reached in Medina v. Rudman, 545 F.2d 244 (1st Cir.1976), cert. denied 434 U.S. 891 (1977). In Medina, plaintiff instituted a civil rights action against the New Hampshire State Greyhound Racing Commission and the state attorney general after her application to participate in the ownership of an outstanding greyhound license was denied. In affirming the lower court's dismissal of the complaint, the First Circuit Court of Appeals distinguished those license cases which involve broadly shared privileges essential in the pursuit of earning a livelihood, 545 F.2d at 249-50, and commented on the rationale behind the broad discretion granted to the agency empowered to regulate the unique enterprise of racing: [R]acing licenses have not been viewed by the New Hampshire courts as open to all persons who meet prescribed standards. Rather they are treated as discretionary with the racing Commission. The statute says only that the Commission ` may ' issue a license if satisfied that all provisions of law and its rules and regulations have been and will be complied with. NH RSA 284:16-a (Supp. 1975). Referring to a horse racing license, the New Hampshire Supreme Court has rejected a claim that once an applicant complies with the statutes and meets all requirements, the commission had no discretion to withhold a license. North Hampton Racing & Breeding Assoc. v. New Hampshire Racing Commission, 94 N.H. 156, 48 A.2d 472 (1946). The court explained that the state horse racing statute, on which the greyhound racing laws are patterned `deals with a private enterprise which, of its nature, is not only privileged, but which presents a social problem properly coming under the exercise and jurisdiction of the police power of the state and which requires strict regulation and supervision.' Id. at 159, 48 A.2d at 475. In Ratti v. Hinsdale Raceway, 109 N.H. 270, 272, 249 A.2d 859, 861 (1969), the court said that racetracks were permitted by the state to raise revenue, and that regulation allowed tracks to be run by private parties while guarding against `whatever social evils may be involved.' We think that New Hampshire, in its greyhound licensing laws, rather than creating a general entitlement in favor of all persons who qualify, has indicated merely that the Commission may issue licenses `at will'. [Citations omitted.] We concluded, therefore, that Mrs. Medina's desire to participate in the ownership of a greyhound parimutuel track did not enjoy, either explicitly or implicitly, a protected status under New Hampshire law, and was not on that theory, a `liberty' or `property' interest. 445 F.2d at 251. Further indicating that the legislature did not intend that an application under the Act created a liberty or property interest, K.S.A. 1988 Supp. 74-8815(1) provides: The refusal to renew a facility owner license or a facility manager license shall be in accordance with the Kansas administrative procedure act and shall be subject to review under the act for judicial review and civil enforcement of agency actions. Here, the legislature clearly recognized that, once the facility owner license or the facility manager license is issued, the holder of that license has a property right and, if the Commission refuses to renew that license, the holder has a protected right to notice and a due process hearing. We recognize there are instances where the interest of an applicant for licensure rises to the level of a constitutionally protected property or liberty interest. Those rights evolve where state laws provide that a license shall be conferred on those who meet specific minimum standards. Here, the Kansas Parimutuel Racing Act creates no similar entitlement. Licenses issued by the Commission under the Act were never intended to be issued to all persons who meet prescribed standards. Instead, the legislature stated that the issuance of the licenses was discretionary with the Commission. The statute merely states that the Commission ` may ' issue a license if satisfied that the applicant has complied with the provisions of the Act and that the issuance of a license would be in the best interests of horse and greyhound racing within this state from the standpoint of both the public interest and the horse and greyhound industry, as determined solely within the discretion of the Commission. The legislature intended that, even where one or all of the applicants meet the requirements, the Commission has discretion to withhold a license. Therefore, appellants' claim fails to establish a property or liberty interest.