Governor Kelly signed House Bill 2047 to reestablish prohibitions on flying drones or aircraft over livestock facilities, field crops and research stations, to document allegations of animal mistreatment or environmental damage. The legislation responded to Federal Court decisions undermining the Farm Animal, Field Crop and Research Facilities Protection Act. The so-called AG-Gag Statute in Kansas was the oldest law criminalizing undercover videotaping of abusive conduct on agriculture properties.
In 2018, the Animal Legal Defense Fund filed a lawsuit challenging on First Amendment Grounds, Kansas’ quarter-century-old law thwarting covert investigations into the treatment of animals and workers at feedlots, slaughterhouses and in crop production zones. In 2021, the 10th Circuit of the U. S. Court of Appeals agreed with the animal defense fund’s legal claim and a lower federal court’s decision to strike down provisions of Kansas’ law. However, the new law enforced the order.
