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Minutes for HB2589 - Committee on Child Welfare and Foster Care
Short Title
Prohibiting the secretary for children and families from accepting anonymous reports of child abuse or neglect, requiring the secretary to inform anonymous reporters of such prohibition and other pertinent information regarding reporting child abuse and neglect and allowing law enforcement agencies to accept anonymous reports of child abuse or neglect.
Minutes Content for Wed, Feb 4, 2026
The Chair opened the hearing on HB2589.
Jessie Pringle, Assistant Revisor, Office of Revisor of Statutes, gave the bill brief for the committee. (Attachment 1) The bill amends the information required in reports of child abuse and neglect to include information on the reporter. Ms. Pringle stood for questions from the committee.
Representative David Buehler, Kansas Legislature House District 40, co-author of HB2589, gave proponent testimony. (Attachment 2) Representative Buehler gave examples of families in his district who had been harmed by unsubstantiated anonymous reporting of child abuse. Representative Buehler stood for questions from the committee.
Tanya Keys, Deputy Secretary, DCF, gave proponent testimony. (Attachment 3) She spoke on improvement in information gathered because of continued contact with reporters. She explained how calls and reports come in. Ms. Keys stood for questions from the committee.
Kristalle Hedrick, CEO, Children's Alliance of Kansas, gave proponent testimony. (Attachment 4) The bill will help reduce the misuse of the system. There were no questions from the committee.
Representative Timothy Johnson, Kansas Legislature House District 38, co-author of HB2589, gave proponent testimony. (Attachment 5) Drawing on his experience in law enforcement, he spoke of abuses of unsubstantiated anonymous reporting. Representative Johnson stood for questions from the committee.
The following submitted written-only proponent testimony:
Brenna Visocsky, Just Campaign Director, Kansas Appleseed (Attachment 6)
Gina Lueger, Private Citizen (Attachment 7)
There was no opponent testimony submitted.
Kerrie Lonard, Child Advocate, OCA, gave neutral testimony. (Attachment 8) Ms. Lonard recognized anonymous reporting can be a weapon. She spoke on data collecting, impact on reporting to law enforcement, and correlation to child safety. Ms. Lonard stood for questions from the committee.
The Chair invited Ed Klumpp from the gallery to comment. He spoke on what to tell prosecutors. He didn't want to close the door completely on anonymous reporting, which coupled with law enforcement observation, can develop probable cause.
Ms. Pringle clarified statute language on law enforcement access.
There were further comments from Ms. Keys on mandated reporting.
The Chair closed the hearing on HB2589.
