TOPEKA – (March 11, 2024) – Today, the District Court of Shawnee County issued a temporary injunction along with a memorandum decision in the case of State of Kansas ex rel. Kris Kobach v. David Harper, et al. The court held that Kansas driver's licenses are required to list sex at birth and only sex at birth.

Attorney General Kobach served as lead counsel for the state in a two-day trial held on Jan. 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 late June of 2023, Gov. Kelly announced that she did not intend to enforce a provision of SB 180 (K.S.A. 77-207) that required driver’s licenses to list sex at birth and only sex at birth. The Attorney General sued Kelly administration officials seeking to compel them to comply with the plain terms of the law. The court granted a temporary restraining order in July.

With today’s court order, Attorney General Kobach has prevailed. The court held: “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 here.