Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab announced Tuesday a new digital regulation platform designed to replace a 60-year-old paper-based system used by state agencies, boards, and commissions to write, submit, and edit rules and regulations.
Esper, a software company, was selected by Schwab’s office to modernize the state’s regulation-making process. Schwab signed the three-year contract in 2025 with Esper.
The platform will serve as a centralized digital system where agencies can handle regulatory work electronically, replacing a process that has been in place since 1965. Under the current system, agencies physically route paper documents between state offices for edits, legal review, approvals, and filing.
Schwab said the reliance on physical document delivery has led to mistakes.
“Sometimes it actually gets done. Sometimes it just absolutely gets lost,” Schwab said.
He highlighted the issue by holding up a stack of lottery regulation documents marked with a coffee stain to illustrate what he described as an “outdated filing system.”
Officials said the platform has been in development since last year and represents the first major overhaul of the state’s regulatory process.
According to a news release, the system is part of Schwab’s 2026 legislative agenda. Reforms were successfully enacted to provide Kansans with greater insight into proposed regulations through earlier public notice, rather than learning about regulations after they had already advanced through the approval process.
“Statewide regulation reform has been long overdue,” Schwab said in a news release. “I am proud that our agency has led these changes and delivered a more efficient regulatory process in Kansas.”
