Could someone standing in their own front yard be charged with violating Kansas’ Halo Act if a police officer was conducting a traffic stop less than 25 feet away?
Olathe Councilmember Matthew Schoonover posed that hypothetical question during an hour-long debate about adding the new state statute to the city’s Public Offense Code.
The Halo Act — which survived Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto attempt — makes it illegal to come within 25 feet of a first responder on duty under certain circumstances. Those who violate the law would be charged with a misdemeanor, and they could face jail time and fines.
Ultimately, the Olathe City Council approved the provision on Tuesday, one day after the Overland Park City Council did the same.
While Kansas isn’t the first state to put something similar to the Halo Act on its books, the law has come under intense scrutiny from members of the public, legal experts, free speech advocates and local officials.
Additionally, the law has raised questions about transparency as federal immigration enforcement activity has increased in Olathe this year. In several cases, bystanders have been on the scene while ICE agents detain someone, and those videos have gone viral on social media.
Now, people shooting those videos could be charged with a crime.
Supporters of the law, like Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson — an Andover Republican who is running for governor — describe it as a public safety measure, made necessary by explosive anti-ICE protests in other states.
“This simple public safety bill prevents radical protesters from interfering with law enforcement and will keep our officers and bystanders safe by installing a 25-foot buffer zone during law enforcement operations,” he said on social media.
As local municipalities are deciding whether to add the law to their municipal codes, some of that tension has echoed in the debates at city halls this week.
“ I understand the state gets to make a policy choice,” Schoonover said. “I think they made a real dumb one here, and it doesn’t mean that we have to adopt it without thinking about its impact on our residents.”
What exactly does the Halo Act say?
The new law, which took effect on July 1, creates a new crime called “unlawful approach of a first responder” and lays out the potential penalties for violation.
Simply put, the Halo Act makes it illegal to come within 25 feet of a first responder while they are doing their job. That includes both local police officers and federal law enforcement officers, as well as emergency medical providers and firefighters.
The law does require the first responder to provide a warning and have a “reasonable belief” that the individual’s presence poses a safety risk.
Individuals violating the law could be charged with a class B misdemeanor, which can carry fines and up to six months of jail time.
Find the full law here.
“This is not an ordinance that we would pass of our own volition”
Something that weighed heavily in the conversation in both Overland Park and Olathe this week was a sense that city officials had no choice but to put the law into municipal codes, whether they liked it or not.
Overland Park Councilmember Amy Scrivner called the whole thing “a political hot potato,” and lamented how the city had been forced into the situation.
Overland Park Mayor Curt Skoog was similarly reluctant, saying, “This is not an ordinance that we would pass of our own volition.”
However, Overland Park legal staff stressed that they have an advantage in putting it on the books as a local ordinance, since it could restore some control.
Eric Blevins, Overland Park’s senior assistant city attorney, said adding the law to the city’s ordinances through the regular Uniform Public Offense Code process would pave the way for any cases in city limits to be handled in municipal court, as a traffic violation or property code issue would be.
Not putting the law in city code would not keep local police officers from having to enforce the state law, Blevins said. Instead, it would require violations to be charged and prosecuted in Johnson County District Court, which could be more disruptive for individuals who are accused of violating the law.
For comparison, Blevins said in Overland Park, it could be a “citation and release” situation, where someone would receive a ticket and go on their way with a court date to report to later. If it needed to be handled at the state level through district court, it might result in a warrant being issued, an arrest made and potential jail detention before an arraignment in front of a judge.
“It is currently the law in the state of Kansas, and our officers are obligated to enforce the laws of Kansas,” Blevins said on Monday. “Incorporating it with the [public offense code] gives the city greater local oversight and control over the specific circumstances in which it’s charged.”
In Olathe, Councilmember LeEtta Felter said that local control aspect is what won her over on the ordinance.
”Right now, without it, then our only option is to enforce the state’s sweeping mandate, and it’s a night in jail and the cost associated,” Felter said.
Halo Act raises First Amendment questions too
One of the chief concerns raised about the Halo Act and its translation to city codes is its potential First Amendment implications.
In other states where similar laws have passed, they’ve faced legal challenges, in part due to their potential infringement on freedom of speech and freedom to peacefully assemble.
For Schoonover in Olathe, it was a nonstarter.
“I think it’s no surprise, I’m a ‘Hell no’ on this one,” he said.
He pointed to a person’s First Amendment right to observe and film law enforcement, which the Halo Act could violate.
“The First Amendment violation happens when that person is removed from public from doing what was otherwise protected. So we’re basically saying, ‘Well, we’re OK with possibly violating the First Amendment because afterwards a prosecutor may decline to press charges,’” he said.
Felter also emphasized the importance of the First Amendment in interactions with law enforcement.
“I am a huge fan of just checks and balances and having eyes on you when you’re performing your job and videos going does tend to make you act better,” she said.
At one point during Overland Park’s discussion on Monday, Scrivner also worried about the First Amendment implications, specifically that the city might face lawsuits if someone is charged under the law in municipal court.
Michael Koss, Overland Park city attorney, said the risk exists regardless, since local police officers would be the ones to enforce state laws, regardless of whether they’ve been copied into city ordinances.
Additionally, he was skeptical that Overland Park would be the target of a lawsuit since it’s the Kansas Legislature that’s responsible for the law in the first place.
“Anyone that’s wanting to challenge this law is going to want that to have a statewide impact,” Koss said. “Just defeating the city’s ordinance is probably not going to be the objective of a group that wants to challenge this law.”
Across city lines, councilmembers also expressed concern that the state law’s language could lead to lawsuits against Olathe.
“It leaves just a little bit of an unknowing feeling,” Olathe Councilmember Kevin Deneault said. “I’m wondering what level of risk or liability the city might have for the wording being that ambiguous?”
In fact, a similar law in Indiana was blocked last year, with a federal appellate judge citing the law’s vagueness and lack of clear standards in the ruling.
Schoonover, an attorney by trade, called the language in the law subjective. He was concerned the law left too much room for individual officers to interpret intent since the only clearly defined conduct is being within 25 feet of the first responder.
Olathe Chief of Police Mike Butaud and Deputy City Attorney Amanda Stanley said that someone would only be prosecuted if there is evidence that the person violated all criteria under the ordinance.
”As long as there’s a reasonable good faith basis for having made that offense, your liability’s pretty low for charging,” Stanley said.
Schoonover also questioned the reason for mandating the distance of 25 feet. He said imposing on someone’s First Amendment rights needs to be the least restrictive possible.
“I’m concerned that we haven’t done the analysis to say, ‘Is this 25 feet reasonable?’” Schoonover said.
ICE’s presence in Olathe adds to the debate
In the background of all of this talk about the Halo Act in Kansas is ICE agents and their increased presence in Kansas. Olathe, which has a large population of Hispanic immigrants, has been a particular target of that agency’s activity in Johnson County.
And since the Halo Act went into effect last summer, bystander videos of ICE agents referencing the law — which offers the same protections to federal law enforcement officers — have circulated on social media.
In one video, an ICE agent is seen shaking a bottle of pepper spray and walking toward the person filming.
“Twenty-five feet. Get back or I’m going to spray you,” he said to the person wielding the camera.
While not a main focus of the Halo Act conversation in Olathe this week, the situation with ICE did play a part when Felter asked about ICE’s ability to invoke the Halo Act for their operations.
Butaud said federal officers, including ICE agents, would only be able to do so with the assistance of the Olathe Police Department.
“Which I had the opportunity to do already and declined,” he said. “I don’t see it’s appropriate for utilizing our ordinance for something of that nature. If it were the right circumstances and that were to occur, it would go through the state statute.”
Next steps
During Overland Park’s discussion, Mayor Curt Skoog urged people to remember that “elections have impacts.” He was referring specifically to the state Legislature, which passed the HALO law in the first place and overrode Gov. Kelly’s attempt to veto it.
Still, the Halo Act is the law in Kansas.
If, in the future, the statute were to be repealed at the state level, it would automatically be unenforceable for all cities that codified it, as well, according to Olathe city attorneys.
If it’s amended by the state Legislature, however, local governments would have to make their own decision about enacting those changes themselves, the attorneys said.
Kate Mays contributed reporting to this story.
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