Kansas
Kansas Nursing Home Camera Laws: Authorized Electronic Monitoring Under K.S.A. 39-981
Kansas gives a resident of an adult care home, a category that explicitly includes assisted living facilities, or their guardian or legal representative, the right to request authorized electronic monitoring in the resident's own room, under K.S.A. 39-981.
Information last verified on 2026-08-14. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.
This article covers Kansas's electronic monitoring statute, K.S.A. 39-981, within Chapter 39, Article 9's Adult Care Homes provisions. It does not cover Kansas's general one-party consent recording law in full, which has its own dedicated page linked below.
What Kansas's Electronic Monitoring Law Grants
A resident, or the resident's guardian or legal representative, may request authorized electronic monitoring by notifying the facility on a form prescribed by the secretary for aging and disability services. The right applies to an "adult care home," a term defined by cross-reference to K.S.A. 39-923.
Does Kansas's Law Cover Assisted Living?
Yes, explicitly. K.S.A. 39-923 defines "adult care home" to mean "any nursing facility, nursing facility for mental health, intermediate care facility for people with intellectual disability, assisted living facility, residential healthcare facility, home plus, boarding care home and adult day care facility" required to be licensed by the secretary for aging and disability services. Assisted living facility is one of eight named categories, so an assisted living resident in Kansas has the same electronic-monitoring right as a nursing facility resident.
Roommate Consent and Withdrawal
In a multi-resident room, the requesting resident must obtain written consent from the other room residents on a prescribed form. Consent may be withdrawn by the resident, the resident's guardian or legal representative, or any roommate, at any time. If consent is withdrawn and the device is not disabled by the party who withdrew it, the facility may turn the device off itself. If a new roommate moves in, the resident must obtain that new roommate's consent before monitoring can resume.
The Video/Audio and Dignity Election
Kansas builds an unusually granular set of resident-controlled options into the statute. A resident can elect to prohibit video recording, prohibit audio recording, or restrict both separately, and can block the visual component of the recording during specific dignity-sensitive activities. That is more control than most other states in this batch give a resident over the audio and video components independently.
Notice and Signage
The facility must post a conspicuous notice at the entrance to the adult care home and at each resident's own room stating that some residents' rooms may be electronically monitored, a dual-location signage requirement that goes beyond a single entrance sign.
Who Pays for the Device
"A resident, or such resident's guardian or legal representative, shall pay all costs associated with installing and maintaining an electronic monitoring device."
Retaliation and Refusal-to-Admit Ban
Kansas law is direct on this point: "An adult care home shall not discharge or refuse to admit a resident or person or otherwise retaliate against a resident or person based on conducting or consenting to authorized electronic monitoring."
Tampering Penalties
Interfering with a device carries a tiered penalty structure. Knowingly hindering, obstructing, or destroying a device is a class B nonperson misdemeanor. If the conduct is intended to conceal a misdemeanor, it becomes a class A nonperson misdemeanor. If intended to conceal a felony, it becomes a severity level 8 nonperson felony, the most serious tampering penalty of any of the seven states covered in this series aside from New Mexico's separate felony-tampering rule.
Using Recordings as Evidence
Courts may not admit a recording unless video shows the time and date and the recording is unedited and unenhanced, no artificial enhancement of the footage. Footage that appears to show abuse or neglect can support a report to the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services or the state's Long-Term Care Ombudsman program, and it can support a civil claim.
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Camera vs. Microphone: Kansas's Consent Law
Kansas is a one-party consent state for recording generally: see Kansas Recording Laws for the full framework. Because a resident present in their own room and consenting to their own device satisfies the general one-party rule for their own conversations, the added value of K.S.A. 39-981's own separate audio-restriction election is mainly about the resident's own preference and dignity, not a gap the general consent law leaves open. A device capturing a conversation the resident is not part of, such as staff talking to each other, is still governed by the general one-party rule independently.
Installing a Camera in a Kansas Adult Care Home
- Confirm the facility is an adult care home, which covers assisted living as well as nursing facilities.
- Submit the secretary-prescribed request form.
- Obtain roommate consent in writing, including any video-only or audio-only restriction the resident wants.
- Confirm signage is posted at both the facility entrance and the resident's own room.
- Budget for the ongoing cost, which falls entirely on the resident or family.
If You Suspect Abuse or Neglect
Kansas residents and families can report suspected abuse or neglect to the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services or to the state's Long-Term Care Ombudsman program. That federally backed ombudsman program, operating in every state under the Older Americans Act, investigates complaints about action or inaction that may adversely affect a resident's health, safety, welfare, or rights, and covers assisted living residents as well as nursing facility residents.
Related Resources
- Nursing Home Camera Laws by State covers the national picture across all 18 statute states.
- Kansas Recording Laws covers Kansas's general one-party consent rule for audio recording.
- Nursing Home Abuse & Neglect covers how an abuse or neglect claim works once evidence, including camera footage, is in hand.
Last updated: 2026-08-14.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a resident install a camera in a Kansas nursing home or assisted living facility?
Yes. K.S.A. 39-981 gives a resident of an adult care home, or their guardian or legal representative, the right to request authorized electronic monitoring. Adult care home is defined broadly under K.S.A. 39-923 to include assisted living facilities as well as nursing and intermediate care facilities.
Does Kansas's electronic monitoring law cover assisted living?
Yes. K.S.A. 39-923 lists assisted living facility as one of eight facility types included in the statutory term adult care home, which K.S.A. 39-981 uses to define which facilities the monitoring right applies to.
Does a roommate have to consent to a camera in a Kansas facility room?
Yes, in writing, using a prescribed form. Consent can be withdrawn at any time by the resident, the resident's guardian or legal representative, or the roommate, and if withdrawn without the device being disabled, the facility may turn it off.
Can a Kansas resident choose to record video only, not audio, in a nursing home camera?
Yes. Kansas's law lets a resident elect to prohibit video recording, prohibit audio recording, or both separately, and to block the camera's visual component during dignity-sensitive activities, an unusually granular set of controls compared to most other states.
Can a Kansas adult care home retaliate against a resident for requesting a camera?
No. K.S.A. 39-981 bars a facility from discharging, refusing to admit, or otherwise retaliating against a resident or person based on conducting or consenting to authorized electronic monitoring.
What is the penalty for tampering with a monitoring device in Kansas?
A class B nonperson misdemeanor for knowingly hindering, obstructing, or destroying a device, rising to a class A nonperson misdemeanor if intended to conceal a misdemeanor, and a severity level 8 nonperson felony if intended to conceal a felony.
Updates
Independently fact-checked against the cited primary sources
Sources and References
- K.S.A. 39-981, Authorized electronic monitoring(ksrevisor.gov).gov
- K.S.A. 39-923, Adult care home definitions(ksrevisor.gov).gov
- 18 U.S.C. § 2511, federal Wiretap Act, one-party consent exception(law.cornell.edu)
- Administration for Community Living, State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program(acl.gov).gov
- 42 U.S.C. § 3058g, Older Americans Act, State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program(law.cornell.edu)