Alva Review-Courier -

BELLE PLAINE, Kan. (AP) — Kansas' child welfare agency balked at releasing records about a 3-year-old girl whose battered body was found this month, despite a 2018 law that aimed to make such documents more transparent.

That law says Kansas Department for Children and Families' documents are public records in the event child abuse or neglect results in a child fatality or near fatality. However, the agency declined to release to The Associated Press records pertaining to Olivia Ann Jansen, saying it is still investigating whether Olivia's death was a result of abuse or neglect. Prosecutors hav...