The U.S. Supreme Court just reminded everybody that when the law says shall, it means shall. Not “when we feel like it.” Not “after we rewrite the statute.” Shall.
Kansas law used to say the same thing.
K.S.A. 19-2670 was crystal clear: in a county between 170,000 and 200,000 people, there shall be a Citizens Commission on Local Government. Shawnee County is the only county that fit. That commission was supposed to put regular citizens at the table — not just the usual huddle of officials — and look at how local government actually works.
Kevin Cook and the rest of the Commission sat on that “shall” for years. They never created it. They never appointed the 18 citizen members the law required. They never wanted the public in the room.
Then some of us started talking about it.
Suddenly Senate Bill 104 appeared. One word change: shall became may. Shawnee County’s own counselor went to the Legislature and asked for it. The Senate rubber-stamped it 40–0. The House passed it 119–4. Four members actually stood up for the original word. Governor Kelly signed it.
So the law that said the public shall have a seat got rewritten the minute people noticed it wasn’t being followed.
That’s not “cleanup.” That’s not “the old statute was written for Wyandotte.” That’s the governing class changing the rules after they got caught ignoring them.
Kevin, you didn’t want a citizens commission because you don’t want citizen involvement. You dragged your feet until the heat started, then you and the rest of the club got the statute changed so you wouldn’t have to do what the law already required.
Shall means shall — unless you’re above it.
Shawnee County deserved the commission the statute ordered. You denied it. Then you had the law rewritten so you could keep denying it. That’s the record.
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