Kansas owes the ACLU and private attorneys $2 million in fees after losing court case

The state of Kansas is on the hook for $2 million in attorney fees after losing a case on Kansas Highway Patrol’s policy of extending traffic stops to conduct drug searches.

The “two-step” policy allowed Kansas police officers to end a formal traffic stop with a ticket, take two steps away before returning, which is then considered a voluntary stop even though drivers may still consider themselves detained. The District Court of Kansas declared the practice is in violation of the Fourth Amendment in July, and in November, the court issued a permanent injunction forcing KHP to cease two-step traffic stops.

That Tenth Circuit Court stayed that injunction, so KHP can continue to use the two-step policy while the Tenth Circuit considers the case.

The latest decision reimburses the individuals for the work of the 13 attorneys and four paralegals who were employed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas, the National ACLU and Spencer Fane LLP.

“This was an incredibly resource-intensive case, and we are extremely gratified that the district court recognized the value of the tremendous amount of hard work that our entire team of dedicated attorneys and legal staff poured into this case over the past four years,” said Kunyu Ching, staff attorney at the ACLU of Kansas that worked on the case.

ACLU attorney pay disputed by Kansas

Attorneys for the state didn’t dispute that the plaintiffs as the prevailing party are entitled to attorney fees or the hourly reimbursement rate for the lawyers. It did, however, object to the amount of hours they claimed to work.

The plaintiffs reported that the case had accumulated over 6,740 hours of work since 2019. The District Court of Kansas found that while there are some inefficiencies when lawyers are spread out over several organizations and ultimately reduced the number of billable hours by 25%. Ultimately it reduced costs for the state from over $3 million to just under $2 million.

The KHP can appeal the attorney fees, but ACLU Kansas said it hasn’t done so yet. The KHP declined to comment on the case, and the attorney general’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: ACLU gets attorney fees from Kansas after Fourth Amendment case