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§ 7. Religious liberty; no property qualification shall be required for holding public office. The right to worship God according to the dictates of conscience shall never be infringed; nor shall any person be compelled to attend or support any form of worship; nor shall any control of or interference with the rights of conscience be permitted, nor any preference be given by law to any religious establishment or mode of worship. No religious test or property qualification shall be required for any office of public trust, nor for any vote at any election, nor shall any person be incompetent to testify on account of religious belief.

History: Adopted by convention, July 29, 1859; ratified by electors, October 4, 1859; L. 1861, p. 48.

Law Review and Bar Journal References:

Case in annotation No. 14 below discussed in 1955-56 survey of taxation law, Leslie T. Tupy, 5 K.L.R. 324, 326 (1956).

Mentioned in article on government aid to church-related schools, M.C. Slough and Patrick D. McAnany, S.J., 11 K.L.R. 35, 74 (1962).

Compulsory High School Attendance and the Old Order Amish: A Commentary on State v. Garber, Robert C. Casad, 16 K.L.R. 423, 428 (1968).

Compulsory school attendance and free exercise of religion, 17 W.L.J. 574, 587 (1978).

One State's Struggle with Wisconsin v. Yoder: the Kansas Compulsory School Attendance Statute and the Free Exercise of Religion, Wayne Dowling Morris, 17 W.L.J. 574, 587 (1978).

Home Education v. Compulsory Attendance Laws: Whose Kids Are They Anyway? David Allen Peterson, 24 W.L.J. 274, 294 (1985).

Religion in a Federal System: Diversity Versus Uniformity, Mechtild Fritz, 38 K.L.R. 39, 44 (1989).

Keeping Secrets: Religious Duty vs. Professional Obligation, Alex Kozinski & Leslie A. Hakala, 38 W.L.J. 747 (1999).

The Kansas Bill of Rights: 'Glittering Generalities' or Legal Authority, Kirk Redmond and David Miller, 69 J.K.B.A. No. 8, 18 (2000).

Attorney General's Opinions:

Religious liberty; prohibition against limiting students' free exercise of religion. 88-12.

State board of agriculture; election and duties of board; position on legislative issues; selection of members. 88-49.

Religious liberty; voucher system program; sectarian schools, constitutionality. 92-55.

School voucher act; constitutionality. 94-37.

U.S.D. release of pupils during school day to attend bible school; school policies concerning distribution of information and materials and absence of pupils. 96-5.

City financial assistance to social service agencies that subscribe to religious tenants not violation of Kansas Constitution Bill of Rights, § 7. 97-10.

Supreme court nominating commission; questions posed to applicants for appellate court positions; age, marital and family status, religious affiliation and mental health. 97-29.

Proposed school voucher program; violative of Kansas Constitution. 2000-32.

Neither state scholarship program nor state comprehensive grant program violates section 7 of Kansas Bill of Rights; opinion 2000-32 is withdrawn. 2004-5.

CASE ANNOTATIONS

1. Disbelief in existence of God does not render witness incompetent. Dickinson v. Beal, 10 Kan. App. 233, 62 P. 724.

2. Courts will not interfere with worship beyond carrying out trust. Feizel v. Trustees of German M.E. Society, 9 Kan. 592, 595.

3. Courts may restrain minority from perversion of church property. Hackney v. Vawter, 39 Kan. 615, 630, 18 P. 699.

4. Ordinance requiring authority from mayor for all street demonstrations, void. Anderson v. City of Wellington, 40 Kan. 173, 181, 19 P. 719.

5. Cited in upholding bequest to priest for celebration of mass. Harrison v. Brophy, 59 Kan. 1, 6, 51 P. 883.

6. Repeating Lord's Prayer and Twenty-third Psalm permitted in public schools. Billard v. Board of Education, 69 Kan. 53, 56, 76 P. 422.

7. Provision applies only to offices and elections contemplated by constitution. The State v. Monahan, 72 Kan. 492, 493, 501, 84 P. 130.

8. Rights of parent by adoption concerning minor child. Denton v. James, 107 Kan. 729, 736, 193 P. 307.

9. Prohibition of unnecessary Sunday labor held not to violate section. State v. Blair, 130 Kan. 863, 864, 288 P. 729.

10. Sunday labor laws, K.S.A. 21-952, 21-955, held constitutional. State v. Haining, 131 Kan. 853, 855, 293 P. 952.

11. Use of tax funds for sectarian school; taxpayer's right to enjoin. Wright v. School District, 151 Kan. 485, 486, 99 P.2d 737.

12. This section and § 2, Article 6 of Kansas Constitution should be construed together; school regulation held to deny religious freedom. State v. Smith, 155 Kan. 588, 592, 594, 596, 597, 127 P.2d 518.

13. Habeas corpus proper to secure release before trial, when. Kamen v. Gray, 169 Kan. 664, 669, 220 P.2d 160.

14. Mortgage registration fee no restraint on religious activity. Assembly of God v. Sangster, 178 Kan. 678, 682, 290 P.2d 1057.

15. Mentioned; consideration of religious beliefs in changing child custody; error. Jackson v. Jackson, 181 Kan. 1, 4, 309 P.2d 705.

16. Religious liberty includes the absolute right to believe but only a limited right to act. State v. Garber, 197 Kan. 567, 572, 419 P.2d 896. Dismissed: 386 U.S. 51, 88 S. Ct. 236, 19 L.Ed.2d 50.

17. Hearing must be held; determine if state purpose outweighs individual's religious right. Wright v. Raines, 1 Kan. App. 2d 494, 495, 571 P.2d 26.

18. Church operation of day-care center for members and others not religious activity exempt from state regulation. State ex rel. Pringle v. Heritage Baptist Temple, 236 Kan. 544, 549, 693 P.2d 1163 (1985).

19. Cited; K.S.A. 21-4003 (denial of civil rights) held not to apply to minister's refusal to perform wedding ceremony. State v. Barclay, 238 Kan. 148, 151, 153, 708 P.2d 972 (1985).

20. Word "any" considered as applied in K.S.A. 16-204 relative to postjudgment interest against state and political subdivisions. Greenhaw v. Board of Johnson County Comm'rs, 245 Kan. 67, 70, 774 P.2d 956 (1989).

21. Condition of probation requiring religious association is constitutionally invalid. State v. Evans, 14 Kan. App. 2d 591, 592, 593, 796 P.2d 178 (1990).

22. Congregational church member's right to fairly conducted meeting on issue of expulsion examined. Kennedy v. Gray, 248 Kan. 486, 488, 807 P.2d 670 (1991).

23. Whether defendant's claim drug rehabilitation program denied church attendance violated defendant's free exercise of religion examined. State v. Van Winkle, 256 Kan. 890, 897, 889 P.2d 749 (1995).

24. Whether speech employed by party's focused picketing afforded less constitutional protection if audience contains children examined. St. David's Episcopal Church v. Westboro Baptist Church, Inc., 22 Kan. App. 2d 537, 548, 921 P.2d 821 (1996).

25. Thirty-day appeal period for inmates to appeal disciplinary actions or parole denial held constitutional. Battrick v. State, 267 Kan. 389, 392, 401, 985 P.2d 707 (1999).

26. Kansas historic preservation act action; court applied federal constitution, not state constitution. Mount St. Scholastica v. City of Atchison, Kansas, 482 F. Supp. 2d 1281, 1300 (2007).

27. Kansas health policy authority's denial of a medicaid recipient's request for prior authorization for the out-of-state liver transplant violated her constitutional rights. Stinemetz v. Kansas Health Policy Authority, 45 Kan. App. 2d 818, 252 P.3d 141 (2011).

28. Constitution does not provide any greater limitation than the limitation provided under K.S.A. 43-156 for exclusion of juror service due to religious beliefs. State v. Carr, 300 Kan. 1, 123, 331 P.3d 544 (2014).

29. Fact that a juror's personal views were based in part on religious beliefs makes no difference in impartiality analysis because the juror's removal was based on inability to impartially follow law and instructions, not on the juror's religious beliefs. State v. Cheever, 304 Kan. 866, 892, 375 P.3d 979 (2016).

30. If a conflict over the control of church property arises out of a dispute within a congregation that is affiliated with a hierarchical denomination and a decision regarding the issue has been made by the highest tribunal of that denomination, civil courts are to accept the decision of the tribunal as binding. Heartland Presbytery v. Presbyterian Church of Stanley, Inc., 53 Kan. App. 2d 622, 390 P.3d 581 (2017).