Kansas has a special law that says stadium STAR bond talks can be kept secret
With Wyandotte County’s local government tied up in a hushed negotiation process, residents and sports fans may need to wait for future public meetings to get a clearer picture of what a deal for a new Kansas City Chiefs stadium would entail, and what it would mean for them.
That is, until the team, the state and the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, reach a deal that commissioners would have to vote on. Until then, local and state officials are insisting they can keep their discussions of the deal secret.
This week, the Unified Government denied The Star’s request for records related to nondisclosure agreements among local officials, the state and the team signed leading up to the announcement of a sales tax and revenue, or STAR, bond project to help pay for the bulk of a new Chiefs stadium in Wyandotte County.
Documentation related to the project — like drafts of the terms or any associated paperwork — will remain confidential and will not be available through the Kansas Open Records Act until the parties execute an agreement, according to the bond agreement state legislators moved forward last month.
The bond agreement attributes that confidentiality to a Kansas state statue specifically designed for STAR bond projects involving a major professional sports franchise.
“Notwithstanding the provisions of the open meetings act, in the discretion of the chairperson of the council, any review, testimony or discussion, or portions thereof, regarding a proposed agreement shall not be open to the public,” cited the Unified Government in its denial, according to that statute.
When will information be public?
According to the Kansas Open Meetings Act, Wyandotte County commissioners may discuss the project with their attorneys during a private, closed session meeting. But any official, binding action — like a vote approving an agreement with the team — will have to happen publicly.
But it’s not just Wyandotte County who has to move in silence.
As Wyandotte negotiates a potential stadium deal, Olathe is reviewing plans for a new team headquarters and training complex.
Shortly after state legislators announced the nearly $4 billion plan to get the Chiefs across state lines, Olathe Chamber of Commerce CEO, Tim McKee, said that the city had been working under a nondisclosure agreement for nearly two years to secure those facilities.
Although the Unified Government confirmed that it is also operating under NDAs related to the stadium project, it declined to share those because the STAR bond statute allows them to remain confidential.
“The UG declines to provide all non-disclosure agreements related to the stadium project as they are associated documentation under K.S.A. 12-17, 181(c) and are therefore not subject to the Kansas Open Records Act,” the Unified Government wrote in response to a reporter’s records request.
What’s been proposed
At the end of December, Wyandotte County leadership joined state and team officials in Topeka for a joint announcement that the Chiefs would be leaving Kansas City and crossing state lines into Kansas. The facilities in KCK and Olathe will also be surrounded by entertainment districts.
The move would be financed utilizing STAR bonds, which would be paid off over 30 years using new state sales tax revenues — and potentially also local taxes — generated within a dedicated district. State officials pledged to pitch in, through these bonds, $1.8 billion for the stadium and roughly another billion for the training facility and headquarters.
Typically, STAR bond districts encompass a new development aimed at attracting tourists and its immediate surrounding area, redirecting the sales taxes generated by that development to pay off the debt used to build it. But the district that state officials proposed to pay back the stadium bonds covers nearly all of Wyandotte County and most of western Johnson County.
That means new state sales tax money — and possibly local too — throughout that entire area would be put toward paying back stadium debt instead of other government priorities for several decades.
What still needs to happen
Leadership at the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and KCK have made it clear that negotiations are ongoing and that the local government hasn’t officially locked down a deal with the team.
Before construction could move forward, county commissioners must first approve a development agreement between the local government and team. That’s key given the agreement would be legally binding and set rules, fees, timelines and more for both parties.
Commissioners must also decide whether new local sales tax revenues generated across the county can be dedicated to paying back the debt for bonds used to build the new Chiefs stadium.
Neither has happened yet, and as of publication time the Unified Government had not responded to questions seeking what the tentative timeline would be.
This story was originally published January 7, 2026 at 4:10 PM.
