[As Amended by House Committee of the
Whole]
As Amended by House Committee
Session of 2000
HOUSE BILL No. 3006
By Committee on Federal and State Affairs
2-23
12 AN ACT
[concerning certain contracts;] enacting the private
attorney
13 retention sunshine
act; attorneys employed by a state agency
contracts
14 for legal services
by state agencies; concerning legislative review
15 of certain contracts
for legal services; limitation on contingent fees[;
16 imposing
limitations on the filing of certain law suits].
17
18 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the
State of Kansas:
19 Section
1. (a) This section shall be known and may be cited as the
20 private attorney retention sunshine
act.
21 (b) For the
purposes of this section:
22 (1) ``Contract
for legal services'' means a contract in which a fee is
23 paid to an attorney or group of attorneys,
in the form of a flat, hourly or
24 contingent fee and any expenses of such
attorney, or group of attorneys.
25 (2) ``State
agency'' means any state office, officer, department, board,
26 commission, institution, bureau, agency,
authority, state agent or any di-
27 vision of a state agency.
28
(c) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, any state agency
that
29 wishes to enter into a contract for legal
services under this section with
30 a lawyer or law firm to perform legal
services on behalf of this state,
31 which contract is reasonably expected by
the state agency to result
32 in legal fees of $7,500 or more,
shall not do so until an open and
33 competitive bidding process has been
undertaken. The competitive bid-
34 ding process under this section means that
the state agency, unless oth-
35 erwise required by law, shall publish in
the Kansas register notice of
36 competitive bidding for such contract
for legal services at least two
37 weeks prior to the deadline to receive
such competitive bids, shall
38 select at least two qualified [lawyers
or] law firms based upon the law
39 firm's experience with similar litigation,
expertise generally and size, if
40 firm size is a relevant factor with respect
to the proposed legal services,
41 and such other factors as the secretary of
administration may specify by
42 rules and regulations, and shall select
from among such [lawyers or]
43 firms for purposes of entry into a contract
for legal services with the
2
1 [lawyer or] law firm which
makes the lowest hourly rate bid or total cost
2 to provide such services.
3 (d) No
state agency shall enter into a contract for legal services ex-
4 ceeding $1,000,000 without the
opportunity for at least one hearing in
5 the legislature on the terms of the
legal contract in accordance with sub-
6 section (e).
7 (e)
(1) For purposes of the requirement of subsection (d), any
state
8 agency entering into a contract for
legal services in excess of $1,000,000
9 shall file a copy of the proposed
contract with the chief clerk of the house
10 of representatives and the secretary of the
senate who, with the approval
11 of the president of the senate in
the case of the secretary of the senate
12 and the speaker of the house of
representatives in the case of the chief
13 clerk of the house of
representatives, shall refer such contract to the
14 appropriate committee of each house
of the legislature chairperson and
15 vice chairperson of the legislative
budget committee.
16 (2) Within 30
days after such referral, the legislative budget com-
17 mittee may hold a public hearing on the
proposed contract and shall issue
18 a report to the referring state agency. The
report shall include any pro-
19 posed changes to the proposed contract
voted upon by the committee.
20 The state agency shall review the report
and adopt a final contract as
21 deemed appropriate in view of the report
and shall file with the chief
22 clerk of the house of representatives and
the secretary of the senate its
23 final contract.
24 (3) If the
proposed contract does not contain the changes proposed
25 by the legislative budget committee,
the referring state agency shall
26 send a letter to the chief clerk of the
house of representatives and the
27 secretary of the senate accompanying the
final contract stating the reasons
28 why such proposed changes were not adopted.
The chief clerk shall refer
29 such letter and final contract to
the appropriate house committee and the
30 secretary of the senate shall refer such
letter and final regulations to the
31 appropriate senate
chairperson and vice chairperson of the legisla-
32 tive budget committee. Not earlier
than 45 days after the filing of such
33 letter and final contract with the
appropriate committees chief clerk of
34 the house of representatives and the
secretary of the senate, the
35 state agency or agent shall enter into the
final contract.
36 (4) If no
proposed changes to the proposed contract are made to the
37 state agency within 60 days of the initial
filing of the proposed contract
38 or any amendment of such contract with the
chief clerk of the house of
39 representatives and the secretary of the
senate, the state agency may enter
40 into the contract.
41 (5) Nothing in
this section shall be construed to expand the authority
42 of any state agency to enter into contracts
where no such authority pre-
43 viously existed.
3
1
(6) In the event that the legislature is not in
session and a state agency
2 wishes to execute a contract
for legal services, the legislative budget com-
3 mittee shall execute the
oversight duties as set forth in paragraphs (2)
4 through (5) of this
subsection. Identical deadlines and reporting respon-
5 sibilities shall apply to the
state agency and the legislative budget com-
6 mittee as would apply to a
standing committee of the legislature executing
7 its duties set forth in
paragraphs (2) through (5) of this subsection.
8 (f)
(1) At the conclusion of any legal proceeding for which a
state
9 agency retained outside counsel on a
contingent fee basis, the state shall
10 receive from counsel a statement of the
hours worked on the case, ex-
11 penses incurred, the aggregate fee amount
and a breakdown as to the
12 hourly rate, based on hours worked divided
into fee recovered, less
13 expenses.
14 (2) In no case
shall the state incur expenses in excess of $1,000 per
15 hour for legal services. In cases where a
disclosure submitted in accord-
16 ance with paragraph (1) of this subsection
indicates an hourly rate in
17 excess of $1,000 per hour, the fee amount
shall be reduced to an amount
18 equivalent to $1,000 per hour.
19 (g) In any action in which
the state of Kansas or any state
20 agency is a defendant and a contract for
legal services is to be
21 entered into in accordance with this
section, the district court may
22 continue the action at any stage of the
proceedings to provide an
23 extension of time in order to provide
the time required for the
24 state or the state agency to comply with
the provisions of this sec-
25 tion. [In any such case, if the
court does not grant a request for a
26 continuance for the purpose of complying
with the provisions of
27 this section, then the state agency and
the contract for legal serv-
28 ices shall not be subject to any period
of time prescribed by this
29 section before the contract for legal
services may be entered into
30 by the state agency.]
31 [Sec. 2. (a) No
officer, employee or agency of the state of Kan-
32 sas shall enter into, or participate as
a member of a class, on behalf
33 of the state of Kansas, as a plaintiff
in a civil class action law suit
34 in federal or state court, except
pursuant to statute or appropria-
35 tion specifically identifying the cause
of action and defendants.
36 [(b) No
officer, employee or agency of the state of Kansas shall
37 enter into any contract for legal
services on behalf of the state of
38 Kansas which provides for fees to be
paid by the state or any other
39 party on a contingency basis except
pursuant to statute or appro-
40 priation specifically identifying the
case and the maximum fees,
41 expressed as a percentage, hourly rate
or dollar amount, which
42 may be paid or awarded to contracting
attorneys. From and after
43 the effective date of this act, any
contract entered into in violation
4
1 of this subsection shall be null
and void.]
2 Sec. 2.
[3.] This act shall take effect and be in force from
and after
3 its publication in the statute
book.