The Attorney General’s office opened a portal for Kansans to report property transactions near military installations. Under Senate Bill 9, Kansas officials can review a sensitive parcel, a public drone purchase or an incentive before asking who benefits.
Attorney General Kris Kobach said Kansas had been vulnerable as the only state in the region without protection against the Chinese Communist Party acquiring control of land. In the implementation notice, he said the law “provides tools to prevent adversarial foreign actors from gaining strategic footholds near key defense assets.”
The enrolled statute establishes the Kansas Land and Military Installation Protection Act. Beginning July 1, 2025, a foreign principal from a country of concern is restricted from acquiring an interest in real property within 100 miles of a military installation in Kansas or an adjacent state, subject to definitions and exceptions.
Ty Masterson had already called for protection of “land around our military installations from foreign adversaries, like China”. The Republican Senate president’s concern now has a statute behind it. Officials must now use the tools lawmakers approved to examine ownership near defense sites.
The law requires a paper trail. Covered foreign principals must register an interest in the 100-mile area within 90 days of acquisition or the effective date, according to the Attorney General’s registration instructions. The office has also urged the public, local officials and industry to report potential non-notified transactions.
SB 9 also covers drones and economic-development benefits. State and local agencies may not purchase or acquire drones containing components from a country of concern. Covered foreign principals are barred from receiving certain economic-development benefits, and Kansas State University must provide an annual report concerning foreign holdings. A county drone contract and a state incentive may look like ordinary paperwork until the security question is asked.
The 100-mile circle will trigger arguments about scope. It can reach property far from a base’s daily operations, and the statute’s definitions and exceptions matter. The law does not prohibit every foreign-owned parcel or label every registered party a threat. Registration is a requirement for disclosure, not a criminal finding.
The definitions and exceptions give officials a process they can enforce rather than a slogan that collapses under its first legal challenge. Kansas can protect sensitive sites while giving covered owners a clear process and the public a clear reporting channel.
SB 9 is enacted law, effective July 1, 2025. Agencies now have to process registrations, examine drone components and track the holdings report instead of pretending a fence is the entire security plan.
Kansas conservatives chose to act before a crisis made the choice for them. The state has drawn a line around sensitive installations and put foreign adversaries on notice: strategic ground, public equipment and taxpayer-funded incentives will not be handed over without scrutiny.