Kansas ACLU seeks strict boundaries to end KHP’s unconstitutional vehicle searches

TOPEKA — U.S. District Court Judge Kathryn Vratil proposed unprecedented court oversight of the Kansas Highway Patrol to break the law enforcement agency’s affinity for unconstitutional searches of vehicles and perpetuation of what the judge likened to a war on motorists traveling in Kansas.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas and KHP submitted to the federal court written briefs arguing for and against remedies contemplated by the judge.

In July, Vratil released a list of her ideas for interdiction of KHP’s reliance on the “Kansas two-step” to gain entry by troopers or drug dogs into vehicles stopped along Kansas roads in the quest to find illegal drugs. Her decision finding KHP acted unconstitutionally during traffic stops came at conclusion of a trial initiated by lawsuits filed by ACLU of Kansas.