Kansas Laws on Service Dogs and Emotional Support Animals

The Kansas "white cane" law and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protect the rights of people with disabilities to bring their service animals to public places. Many of the protections listed in the ADA are also covered by Kansas state law, but some differences exist.

For example, Kansas law allows service dogs in training to be in public places when they accompany a professional trainer from a recognized training center. (Kan. Stat. § 39-1109.) The ADA doesn't cover service animals in training.

Below, we explain which animals qualify as assistance dogs or service animals in Kansas and where service animals must be allowed. We'll also cover how state and federal laws treat emotional support animals (ESAs).

What Counts as a Service Animal in Kansas?

Both Kansas law and the ADA limit the types of animals covered by public accommodation rules. But the types of animals covered by state and federal protections differ somewhat.

Kansas's white cane law applies to "assistance dogs." (KS § 39-1113.) Under the law, assistance dogs include all the following:

• guide dogs: dogs that are specially selected, trained, and tested to guide those who are blind
• hearing assistance dogs: dogs that are specially selected, trained, and tested to alert or warn those who are hard of hearing to particular noises or sounds, and
• service dogs: dogs that are specially selected, trained, and tested to perform tasks for those with other disabilities.

Under the ADA, a service animal is any dog trained to perform disability-related tasks to benefit a person with a disability. (28 C.F.R. § 36.104.) In addition to guide dogs and hearing assistance dogs, some other examples of service animals covered by the ADA include the following:

• psychiatric service animals, which help their handlers manage mental and emotional disabilities by interrupting self-harming behaviors, reminding handlers to take medication, checking spaces for intruders, or providing calming pressure during anxiety or panic attacks
• seizure alert animals, which let their handlers know of impending seizures and might also guard their handlers during seizure activity, and
• allergen alert animals, which let their handlers know of foods or other substances that could be dangerous (such as peanuts).

Miniature horses individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities can also sometimes qualify as service animals under the ADA.

Do Public Accommodation Laws Cover ESAs in Kansas?

Neither the ADA or Kansas's laws cover whether emotional support animals (ESAs) can be in public places. ESAs provide a sense of safety, companionship, and comfort to those with psychiatric or emotional conditions.

Although ESAs often have therapeutic benefits, they're not individually trained to perform specific tasks for their handlers, so they don't meet the definition of service animals under the Kansas white cane law or the ADA public accommodations law. That means public accommodations laws in Kansas don't cover emotional support animals.

But some laws do protect your right to have an ESA in your Kansas home. (See more below).

How Are Public Accommodations Defined in Kansas?

In Kansas, people with disabilities can bring their guide dogs, hearing assistance dogs, or service dogs on all common carriers and forms of public transportation (including buses, trains, boats, and cars). The state law also protects your right to have your service animal in all places of public accommodation. (Kan. Stat. § 39-1101.) The law covers all the following:

• hotels and other places of lodging
• restaurants and other places that sell food
• places of public resort, amusement, or public accommodation, and
• to all other places to which the public is invited.

Under the ADA, the definition of public accommodations is also very broad. (42 U.S.C § 12181(7).) The definition includes all the following:

• restaurants and bars
• hotels
• theaters and concert halls
• recreational facilities
• parks and zoos
• service establishments, like dry cleaners and funeral homes
• educational institutions
• social service centers, and
• any other place of public gathering.

What Are the Rules for Service Animals in Public Places in Kansas?

Under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Kansas's disability rights law, people with disabilities have the right to be accompanied by their assistance dogs or service animals in all public accommodations. These laws don't require public accommodations to admit emotional support animals or pets.

Kansas law explicitly states that dogs who provide comfort, protection, or personal defense (and aren't trained to help with someone's disability) don't qualify as assistance dogs. Federal regulations stipulate that an animal's crime deterrent effects or provision of emotional support, comfort, or companionship don't meet the ADA's definition of a service animal.

If a question comes up about whether your animal is an assistance animal, Kansas law says you "may" provide the public accommodation with a letter or identification card. The card's required contents depend on whether you trained the dog yourself or a school or professional trainer trained it, but the card must include a picture of you and your animal. (Kan. Stat. § 39-1111.)

Under the ADA, a public accommodation isn't allowed to ask about your disability or demand to see certification, identification, or other proof of your animal's training or status. If it isn't apparent what your service animal does, the establishment can ask you only two things:

• whether your dog is a service animal, and
• what tasks your animal performs for you.

Public accommodations in Kansas must comply with both state and federal law.

The ADA and Kansas law prohibit public accommodations from charging a special admission fee or requiring you to pay any other extra cost to have your service animal with you. But you can be required to pay for any damage your animal causes.

The ADA and Kansas's white cane law allow a public accommodation to exclude your service animal if it poses a direct threat to health and safety. So, for example, if your dog is aggressively barking and snapping at other customers, the facility can require you to remove it. Public accommodations can also exclude an assistance animal if it's not housebroken or if it's out of control and you're unable to get it under control.

Even if your service animal isn't allowed for one of the above reasons, you're still entitled to enter the public place, make purchases, and otherwise use the facilities the same as those who don't have disabilities. (28 C.F.R. § 36.302(c)(3).)

Are Assistance Animals and ESAs Allowed in Kansas Housing?

Kansas law and the federal Fair Housing Act (FHA) prohibit discrimination in housing accommodations against those who use service animals (or assistance dogs, under Kansas's white cane law). You must be allowed full and equal access to all housing facilities.

Under state and federal housing laws, you can't be charged extra for having a service animal, but you can be held liable for damage your animal causes. And if your lease or rental agreement includes a "no pets" provision, it doesn't apply to your assistance animal.

The federal Fair Housing Act requires housing facilities to allow assistance animals—including service dogs and emotional support animals—if you need one to have an equal opportunity to use and enjoy the home. To fall under this provision, you must have both:

• a disability, and
• a disability-related need for the animal.

In other words, to qualify as an assistance animal covered by the FHA, your animal must perform tasks or services or alleviate the emotional effects of your disability.

The FHA allows housing providers to exclude your assistance animal if it poses a threat to the health and safety of other people or property. But the exclusion must be based on your animal's behavior and not its size or breed.

Under the FHA, a landlord can ask for documentation of your disability and your need for an assistance animal, but only if it's not apparent. So, a blind tenant can't be required to show proof of the need for a guide dog but could be asked for proof of the need for an emotional support dog.

(Learn more about the FHA rules for assistance animals at the Department of Housing and Urban Development's website at HUD.gov.)