Sen. Kenny Titus believes the Kansas Legislature recently expanded police surveillance without doing enough to protect Kansans from unreasonable searches. He is eyeing potential changes to state law to rein that power back in.
Titus’ concerns come from a new state law that protects utility companies from lawsuits if they allow police to put surveillance equipment on utility poles. The law did not expand law enforcement’s ability to add the cameras, but it shielded pole owners from lawsuits.
“We’ve removed any risk for them,” said Titus, a Wamego Republican. “By making the utilities immune from any civil liability, there’s no reason they would ever tell law enforcement no.”
The actual text of the law doesn’t mention expanding police powers, but Titus said removing the risk means these companies have nothing to lose.
Titus and Sen. Kellie Warren, a Leawood Republican, are worried about constant surveillance of everyday Kansans. Police can put law enforcement equipment on utility poles in any neighborhood without a warrant. They just need permission from the utility company.
That could mean a camera running nonstop in your neighborhood.
“The private citizen doesn’t have any recourse if the security camera is looking in their second-story bedroom window,” said Warren during the legislative session.
Protection from lawsuits
The new law did not directly expand the use of security cameras. It doesn’t change privacy rights or alter civil remedies if the equipment is misused. The law simply said companies, like Evergy, can’t be sued for allowing police to install this equipment on its property.
The change was necessary because utility companies were starting to tell police that they couldn’t use their utility poles for surveillance because one company was sued in Missouri, said Ed Klumpp, a law enforcement lobbyist.
Such cases aren’t uncommon.
A Massachusetts family was once watched for eight months by law enforcement without judicial approval. Federal agents put a camera across the street from the family’s home that ran 24 hours a day. Eventually law enforcement brought drug charges, but the American Civil Liberties Union petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to stop the practice.
Klumpp declined to speak with The Beacon for this story but did testify to lawmakers during the session.
He said putting surveillance equipment on utility poles helps investigate violent crimes, drug sales, gambling operations and burglary rings — among other things. Police want to continue to use this process to catch criminals and needed a legislative workaround to keep the practice viable.
“Law enforcement understood their dilemma,” Klumpp said.
Possible legislative action next year
Titus isn’t sure what a bill could look like in 2026. But he is considering limits to when law enforcement can use private property for surveillance without a warrant or limit the lawsuit protection if police don’t have a warrant or probable cause.
Titus said on the Senate floor months ago that these things start with the best intentions. The goal is to catch criminals, but “once we go down this road, we will never be able to take it back.” That’s why he wants to expand protections for Kansans.
Sen. Michael Fagg, an El Dorado Republican, said those Big Brother-type scenarios aren’t going to happen. Fagg said on the Senate floor when the law was debated that the bill is only about whether utility companies can be sued.
There is already case law on this issue. In some situations, police do need search warrants to put these cameras up. Otherwise they need permission from the owner, or whatever is being recorded must be visible from a public right-of-way.
It also costs $15,000 per camera, one lawmaker said. That cost makes it harder to put equipment up on every street corner.
“This really comes down to common sense,” Fagg said. “Law enforcement knows the law when they’re out doing their job.”
Lauren Bonds, executive director of the National Police Accountability Project, isn’t as trusting of law enforcement.
Bonds said she doesn’t know of any states significantly restricting how these cameras can be placed. That could make any possible Kansas legislation next year more significant.
“You could see why utility companies would want more protection from any potential lawsuits,” Bonds said, “because technology is evolving, and the law is kind of in the process of catching up.”
This story was originally published by The Beacon, a fellow member of the KC Media Collective.
