Opinion ID: 1402965
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: 1996 Amendments to K.S.A. 44-1005

Text: It is important to point out that the statutory provisions regarding the dismissal of matters pending before the KHRC and the necessity of filing a petition for reconsideration were substantially changed by the 1995 Kansas Legislature: The parties in this case were instructed to brief the issue of whether K.S.A. 1995 Supp. 44-1005(i) affects jurisdiction. That subsection states: (i) Any complaint filed pursuant to this act must be so filed within six months after the alleged act of discrimination, unless the act complained of constitutes a continuing pattern or practice of discrimination in which event it will be from the last act of discrimination. Complaints filed with the commission on or after July 1, 1996, may be dismissed by the commission on its own initiative, and shall be dismissed by the commission upon the written request of the complainant, if the commission has not issued a finding of probable cause or no probable cause or taken other administrative action dismissing the complaint within 300 days of the filing of the complaint. The commission shall mail written notice to all parties of dismissal of a complaint within five days of dismissal. Complaints filed with the commission before July 1, 1996, shall be dismissed by the commission upon the written request of the complainant, if the commission has not issued a finding of probable cause or no probable cause or taken other administrative action dismissing the complaint within 300 days of the filing of the complaint. Any such dismissal of a complaint in accordance with this section shall constitute final action by the commission which shall be deemed to exhaust all administrative remedies under the Kansas act against discrimination for the purpose of allowing subsequent filing of the matter in court by the complainant, without the requirement of filing a petition for reconsideration pursuant to K.S.A. 44-1010 and amendments thereto. Dismissal of a complaint in accordance with this section shall not be subject to appeal or judicial review by any court under the provisions of K S.A. 44-1011 and amendments thereto. The provisions of this section shall not apply to complaints alleging discriminatory housing practices filed with the commission pursuant to K.S.A. 44-1015 et seq. and amendments thereto. L. 1995, ch. 247, § 2. This provision was amended in response to a large backlog of cases before the KHRC. See testimony of Branden R. Myers, Chief Legal Counsel, Kansas Human Rights Commission, March 28, 1995, regarding S.B. 376 before the Senate Governmental Organization Committee. Because the Sandlin complaint with the KHRC was filed in July 1992, and the amendment of the statute would be deemed to be procedural and not substantive, the complaint would be subject to the statute's amended provisions. However, as both parties argue, because a probable cause finding had been made on Sandlin's complaint and the amended statute states that complaints shall be dismissed by the commission upon the written request of complainant, if the commission has not issued a finding of probable cause or no probable cause or taken other administrative action dismissing the complaint within three hundred days of filing the complaint, the amended provisions do not apply in this case. Although the KHRC took longer than 300 days to issue the probable cause finding, the finding had been made and the administrative process was at work. The conditions for dismissal have not been met, and K.S.A. 1995 Supp. 44-1005(i) is not applicable to the facts of our case.