Kansas Attorney General Opinion 2019-002

January 24, 2019
ATTORNEY GENERAL OPINION NO. 2019- 2
The Honorable Ken Rahjes
State Representative, 110 th District
State Capitol, Room 149-S
Topeka, KS 66612
Re: 	State Departments; Public Officers and Employees—Firearms—
Personal 	and 	Family 	Protection 	Act; 	Restrictions 	on 	Carrying
Concealed Handgun; Sign Requirements; Dormitory
Synopsis: 	A 	one-story 	dormitory-type 	structure 	having 	a 	series 	of
living/sleeping 	units, 	each 	with 	a 	separate 	exterior 	door, 	is 	a
“building” under K.S.A. 2018 Supp. 75-7c10. 	The Personal and
Family Protection Act requires that signage for such a structure be
posted near all exterior doors of the building. 	Therefore, signage
would 	need 	to 	be 	placed 	near 	the 	exterior 	door 	of 	each
living/sleeping unit. 	Cited herein: 	K.S.A. 2018 Supp. 75-7c01; 75-
7c10; K.S.A. 2013 Supp. 75-7c20; L. 2010, Ch. 140, § 9.
* 	* 	*
Dear Representative Rahjes:
As State Representative for the 110 th District, you request our opinion regarding
the signage requirements of the Personal and Family Protection Act 1 (PFPA) for
a building owned and occupied by a Kansas not-for-profit corporation. 	You ask
specifically whether signage is required for each door leading into an individual
living/sleeping unit of a one-story dormitory-type structure. 	The door of each
living/sleeping unit allows direct access into the unit from an outdoor courtyard.
There is no shared interior space, such as a commons area or interior hallways
connecting the units.
1 K.S.A. 2018 Supp. 75-7c01 et seq.

The Honorable Ken Rahjes
Page 2
Subsection 	(a) 	of 	K.S.A. 	2018 	Supp. 	75-7c10 	states, 	“The 	carrying 	of 	a
concealed handgun shall not be prohibited in any building unless such building is
conspicuously posted in accordance with rules and regulations adopted by the
attorney general.” 	The rules and regulations are to “prescrib[e] the location,
content, size and other characteristics of signs to be posted on a building where
carrying a concealed handgun is prohibited. . . .” 2 	Minimum requirements set by
statute are that:
(1) The signs be posted at all exterior entrances to the prohibited
buildings;
(2) the signs be posted at eye level of adults using the entrance
and not more than 12 inches to the right or left of such entrance;
(3) the signs not be obstructed or altered in any way; and
(4) signs which become illegible for any reason be immediately
replaced. 3
The answer to your question turns on the meaning of “exterior entrances to the
prohibited buildings.” 	Since July 1, 2010, “‘building’ [has] not include[d] any
structure, or any area of any structure, designated for the parking of motor
vehicles.” 4 The term “building” is not otherwise defined in the PFPA. 5 In Attorney
General Opinion Nos. 2013-14 and 2013-21, this office employed the ordinary
meaning of “building” in K.S.A. 2013 Supp. 75-7c20, when we determined it
refers to a structure as a whole. A “building” is “a structure with a roof and walls,
such as a house or factory;” “a relatively permanent enclosed construction over a
plot of land, having a roof and usually windows and often more than one level,
used 	for 	any 	of 	a 	wide 	variety 	of 	activities, 	as 	living, 	entertaining, 	or
manufacturing.” 6 	As a result, we concluded an interior office suite or individual
floor within a multi-office or multi-story structure is not a “state or municipal
building” under the PFPA. 7
Although Attorney General Opinion Nos. 2013-14 and 2013-21 concerned public
buildings, rather than a privately-owned facility such as you describe, we believe
2 K.S.A. 2018 Supp. 75-7c10(j).
3 Id. (emphasis added).
4 See L. 2010, Ch. 140, § 9; K.S.A. 2018 Supp. 75-7c10(h)(2).
5 Attorney General Opinion No. 2013-14.
6 Attorney General Opinion Nos. 2013-14; 2013-21.
7 In Attorney General Opinion No. 2013-21 we also opined that an office space leased by a public
entity in a strip shopping center is a “state or municipal building” for the purposes of the PFPA;
however, that opinion relied upon legislative history showing that the 2013 amendments to the
PFPA were intended to “maximize the ability of concealed carry licensees to carry concealed
handguns into public buildings.” We do not apply the same analysis here because you ask only
about privately-owned buildings.

The Honorable Ken Rahjes
Page 3
this ordinary meaning is likewise applicable to private buildings whose signage is
regulated by K.S.A. 2018 Supp. 75-7c10. 8 	A one-story dormitory-type structure
having a series of living/sleeping units, each with a separate exterior door, is a
“building” under K.S.A. 2018 Supp. 75-7c10. The PFPA requires that signage for
such a structure be posted near all exterior doors of the building. 	The PFPA
does not require that the exterior door grant access to all areas within a building.
Therefore, signage would need to be placed near the exterior door of each
living/sleeping unit.
Sincerely,
Derek Schmidt
Kansas Attorney General
Richard D. Smith
Assistant Attorney General
DS:AA:RDS:sb
8 “[I]n determining legislative intent, the starting point is not legislative history; rather, we first look
to the plain language of the statute, giving common words their ordinary meaning.” University of
Kansas Hosp. Authority v. Bd. of County Comm’rs of the Unified Gov’t of Wyandotte
County/Kansas City, 301 Kan. 993, 998 (2015).