Opinion ID: 2524568
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Application of the Kansas Act for Judicial Review and Civil Enforcement of Agency Actions

Text: The KJRA applies to all agencies and all proceedings for judicial review and civil enforcement of agency actions not specifically exempted by statute. K.S.A. 77-603(a). It establishes the exclusive means of judicial review of agency action. K.S.A. 77-606; Lindenman v. Umscheid, 255 Kan. 610, 619, 875 P.2d 964 (1994). The KJRA is the exclusive remedy for all requested relief which an agency can grant under its authority. Only actionable claims which fall outside the authority of an agency to grant can support a separate action by an aggrieved party. Douglass v. Kansas State University, 22 Kan. App.2d 171, 174, 915 P.2d 782 (1996). See Reifschneider, 266 Kan. at 341 (quoting this phrase from Douglass in finding that the KJRA was sole means of judicial review of acts of the Kansas Lottery). Heiland argues that his action falls outside the purview of the KJRA, relying upon our decision in Lindenman, 255 Kan. 610. In Lindenman, the plaintiffs prevailed at the administrative level, forcing the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) to lift its suspension of the license on one of their day care centers. The plaintiffs then filed a tort action against the KDHE alleging a violation of their civil rights, malicious prosecution, and abuse of process, which were allegations that the KDHE could not administratively address. We held that because the claims were tort claims for wrongful acts, they did not fall under the KJRA. 255 Kan. at 619-20. Heiland also relies on Wright v. Kansas Water Office, 255 Kan. 990, 881 P.2d 567 (1994), for authority that his claims fall outside the purview of the KJRA. In Wright, we agreed with the trial court's holding that the plaintiff was not required to exhaust administrative remedies or otherwise comply with the KJRA because Wright's argument for wrongful termination was based on the constitutionality of legislation which ordered him to be terminated, an issue which the Kansas Water Office, the administrative agency involved, was not empowered to address. 255 Kan. at 992-93. Unlike the tort and constitutional claims in Lindenman and Wright, Heiland's claims involve the SBC's failure to perform a statutory and regulatory duty benefitting state employees in Heiland's position. The SBC is a state agency, as defined in K.S.A. 77-602(k): [A]ny officer, department, bureau, division, board, authority, agency, commission or institution of this state which is authorized by law to administer, enforce or interpret any law of this state but does not include any political or taxing subdivision of the state, or any agency thereof, or the judicial or legislative branch of state government. Heiland's claim that the SBC's failed to afford him automatic reemployment rights or properly use the reemployment lists involved an agency action as defined by K.S.A. 77-602(b): (1) The whole or a part of a rule and regulation or an order; (2) the failure to issue a rule and regulation or an order; or (3) an agency's performance of, or failure to perform, any other duty, function or activity, discretionary or otherwise. (Emphasis added.) Finally, Heiland's request for relief is one within a state agency's authority to grant. Both the SBC, as the agency involved, and the Department of Administration, as the agency charged by statute to perform all powers and duties prescribed by law with respect to civil service and personnel administration, could have addressed Heiland's complaint and provided him with the remedies he sought. See K.S.A. 75-3747. We agree with the trial court and the Court of Appeals that the KJRA applies to Heiland's claims. The claims are based on an agency action of a state agency and the relief requested is one that the agency can grant under its authority. Heiland's sole remedy for the SBC's alleged failure to afford him automatic reemployment rights and properly use the reemployment lists is through the KJRA.