Right to Counsel

NOTE: this is a very complex area of law, especially as it relates to stay-at-home orders issued by the states.  Please read our primer on quarantine/isolation law before reading this specific state law.

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A local health officer or the Secretary of Health and Environment may issue quarantine and isolation orders to prevent or reduce the spread of infectious or contagious disease.  Kan. Stat. § 65-129b(a)(1)(B).  Where the local health authorities have neglected “…to properly isolate and quarantine infectious or contagious diseases and persons afflicted with or exposed to such diseases as may be necessary to prevent the spread thereof…” the Secretary of Health and Environment “may quarantine any area in which any of these diseases may show a tendency to become epidemic,” including a city, township, or county.  Kan. Stat. § 65-126.

Section 65-129c outlines the procedures for issuing orders of quarantine and isolation.  Orders to quarantine or isolate can be directed at an individual or group of individuals.  Kan. Stat. § 65-129c(a). The order will notify the individual or individuals of their right to request a hearing to contest the order.  Kan. Stat. § 65-129c(b)(6).  If the individual or group of individuals request a hearing, “the court shall appoint counsel to represent individuals or a group of individuals who are not otherwise represented by counsel.  Kan. Stat. § 65-129c(d)(10).  The application of these procedures is contemplated for quarantine or isolation of an entire area.  Where the required order from the local health officer or Secretary is “…impractical because of the number of individuals or geographical areas affected, the local health officer or the secretary shall ensure that the affected individuals are fully informed of the order using the best possible means available.”  Kan. Stat. § 65-129c(c)(2)(a).  Furthermore, where the “…number of individuals involved or affected is so large as to render individual participation impractical,” the court may consolidate individual claims into group claims, if, among other considerations, the court determines that the group will be “….adequately represented in the consolidation.” Kan. Stat. § 65-129c(d)(9).