Kansas Children's Internet Protection Act

Purpose


The Kansas Children's Internet Protection Act (KS-CIPA) requires that any public library that provides public access to a computer shall implement and enforce technology protection measures to:
  • Ensure that no minor has access to visual depictions that are child pornography, harmful to minors, or obscene
  • Ensure that no person has access to visual depictions that are child pornography or obscene

Exceptions


An employee of a public library may disable a technology protection measure if:
  • Requested to do so by a library patron who is not a minor, and
  • The technology protection measure is disabled only to enable access for legitimate research or other lawful purpose

Regulations



The state librarian shall promulgate regulations for the enforcement of the provisions of this act. Such regulations shall be distributed to the public libraries in this state, posted in a conspicuous place in such public libraries, and made available to the public.

The governing body of each public library shall adopt a policy to implement and enforce the provisions of this act in accordance with the regulations published by the state librarian. Such policy shall be reviewed at least once every three years by such governing body and shall:
  • State that the purpose of the policy is to restrict access to those materials that are child pornography, harmful to minors, or obscene
  • Provide how such public library will meet the requirements of this act
  • Require such public library to inform its patrons of the standards and rules and regulations that library employees follow to enforce the provisions of the act
  • Require such public library to inform its patrons that procedures for the submission of complaints about the standards and rules and regulations, the enforcement thereof, or observed patron behavior, have been adopted and are available for review
Any public library that is in compliance with the provisions of this act shall not be liable for any damages arising out of or related to a minor gaining access to visual depictions that are child pornography, harmful to minors, or obscene through the use of a computer that is owned or controlled by the library.

Policy Checklist

Southeast Kansas Library System has created a Policy Requirement Checklist to help libraries ensure that administration and boards address all necessary areas. Use of the checklist is highly recommended whenever the policy is reviewed.

The checklist includes sound advice about incorporating Kansas CIPA requirements into your Internet Use Policy versus a separate document.

Policy Template


The Kansas CIPA Policy Template is a customizable template you can use to create a KS-CIPA compliant Internet safety policy. Please note that you are not required to send a copy of your Internet safety policy to the State Library of Kansas.

Internet Filtering


The Internet Filtering Options document is a listing of possible filtering options including filtering provided by various library systems.

Review Updates


When your board reviews your policy or adopts a new one, please notify the State Library and provide the date (mm/dd/yyyy) of review or adoption at KSLIB_ERATE@ks.gov
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Additional Information


For additional program information, please contact the State Library of Kansas at 800-432-3919 or via email .