Senate votes to open case files of neglected children
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Senate votes to open case files of neglected children
- Records of child-abuse victims would be opened to public scrutiny.
March 4, 2003 — The Kansas State Senate voted unanimously Wednesday to pass a bill that would make state case files on neglected children accessible to the public. The proposed legislation is now under consideration in the Kansas House of Representatives.
The bill was introduced by Sen. David Adkins (R-Leawood) Jan. 27 after 9-year-old Brian Edgar, who had lived in the state’s foster care system, suffocated when his adoptive parents allegedly bound and gagged him.
Adkins told The Kansas City Star he hopes the bill will help by freeing restraints on records that can be used to investigate such cases and determine whether prevention was possible.
Under the proposed law Brian’s records as well as those of other children would be open to the public as part of the Kansas Open Records Act. His adoptive parents and babysitter have been charged with first-degree murder for his Dec. 29, 2002 death.
(S.B. 67) — KD
© 2003 The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
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