The District Court of Shawnee County has issued a temporary injunction and memorandum decision in the case of State of Kansas ex rel. Kris Kobach v. David Harper, et al. The court ruled that Kansas driver's licenses must list sex at birth and only sex at birth.
Attorney General Kris Kobach led the state's legal team during a two-day trial on January 10 and 11.
"This decision is a victory for the rule of law and common sense. The Legislature wisely stated that state agencies should record biological sex at birth, and today the court held that the meaning of the law is clear," Kobach said.
In June 2023, Governor Laura Kelly announced she would not enforce a provision of SB 180 (K.S.A. 77-207) requiring driver's licenses to list sex at birth. Attorney General Kobach sued Kelly administration officials to compel compliance with the law. A temporary restraining order was granted in July.
With today's court order, Attorney General Kobach has prevailed. The court stated: "In sum the language of the statute is clear. K.S.A. 77-207 applies to require the sex designation on driver's licenses and the corresponding information in the KDOR database to identify the licensee's biological sex as male or female at birth."
Read the Order