After watching recent events in Kansas and elsewhere, we’re convinced control of our state and county is too much in the hands of the powerful, who use their political clout to circumvent the laws most of us take for granted.

A case in point:

Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt — who, ironically, received an award several years ago from the Kansas Press Association for his support of open government — recently dismissed an open meetings complaint over the closing of the state Senate gallery and removal of the news media from the chamber during the final day of the 2019 Legislative session. The complaint was filed by the Sunshine Coalition for Open Government, Kansas Association of Broadcasters and the Kansas Press Association.

The coalition argued the Senate violated the Kansas Open Meetings Act when the public and the news media were removed from the chamber amid protests over the Senate leadership’s decision not to debate Medicaid expansion. The proceedings were disrupted by nine protesters with loud chants and singing. At the direction of Senate President Susan Wagle, the group was escorted from the Senate by the Capitol Police.

Coalition president Ron Keefover called the dismissal of the news media “disheartening” and an example of the “dark state” nature of Kansas government. A study by a professor at the University of Arizona, released in June, ranked Kansas sixth from the bottom of the 50 states in compliance with Freedom of Information requests.

“Closing the Senate chambers and not only ousting the media from the floor but threatening them with denial of their credentials to cover future proceedings is simply unwarranted and unheard of in my experience,” said Keefover, who for many years served as a spokesman for the Kansas Supreme Court.

“Covering the protest and disruption of the Senate proceedings is certainly a minimum right under the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of the press.”

In his decision, Schmidt said the Senate has adopted rules under its authority in the Kansas Constitution that allows it to depart from the general requirements of KORA. To his credit, the decision cautions other government entities that they do not have the authority “to carve out a similar path.”

The attorney general may or may not be right from a strictly legal standpoint. That’s why decisions from this office are called “opinions.”

But it seems to us that conducting public business away from public view is never good policy. Laws that do more harm than good are too often the result. That’s true at all levels of government.

Wagle’s move was all about control and, in this case, she was in a position to use her power to shape events to her liking.

Is that really the kind of government we want?

The only way that changes is for voters to demand their elected representatives take the good with the bad — and stop thinking up reasons to hide their actions from those they represent.