Secretary Schwab to Host Joint Press Conference Announcing Modernization of Kansas Regulation-Making Process

Friday, May 15, 2026

TOPEKA – Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab will host a joint press conference with Esper, the software vendor selected by the Secretary of State office to modernize the state’s regulation-making process. The event will highlight the new technology initiative and discuss how the updated system will cut bureaucratic processes, improve efficiency, and bring Kansas into today’s digital age.

“File cabinets filled with paper regulations — and the lack of transparency that comes with them — will now be a relic of the past,” Schwab said.

WHO:

• Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab
• Representatives from Esper

WHAT:

Joint Press Conference Announcing the modernization of Kansas’ regulation-making process

WHEN:

Tuesday, May 19, 2026
11:00 a.m.

WHERE:

Secretary of State Office (Candidate Signing Room)
Docking State Office Building
915 SW Harrison Street
Topeka, KS 66612

BACKGROUND:

Kansas has conducted the permanent regulation approval process on paper since 1965. Under the paper-based system, there was no standardized process. Agencies’ drafting regulations often had little structure for submissions, templates varied widely, and institutional knowledge surrounding the regulation-making process became increasingly difficult to maintain in today’s work environment, where employee turnover is more prevalent.

For approving agencies, the paper process also created challenges with version control, human error, physical delivery of large packets between agencies, and long-term storage of regulations in filing cabinets for decades.

In 2025, Secretary Schwab signed a contract with Esper to modernize the process through a centralized software platform where regulations can be written, submitted, edited, tracked internally, and archived electronically.

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