Cowley County Social Media Public Comments Policies and Procedures
1. Rules for commenting will be made available on Cowley County social media platforms.
2. The purpose of this page is to present matters of public interest for Cowley County government. We encourage you to submit your questions, comments, and concerns, but please note that this is a moderated page and not an open public forum.
3. The public is welcome to share opinions and feedback on social media platforms managed by the county. Public comments expressed on Cowley County social media platforms do not reflect the opinions or positions of Cowley County, its officers, or its employees. Persons posting comments give the County the express right to reproduce, use, and distribute the content of their comments. Please be aware that these sites are limited public forums and moderated by county staff. To best facilitate online conversation, please keep your comments to the topic at-hand.
4. Users understand and agree that unless specifically identified as a resource for receiving requests for information under the Kansas Open Records Act (KORA), County social media platforms are not proper vehicles for making requests for public information or public records under state law and any such requests must be made to the appropriate custodian of the records.
5. User-generated posts or comments/hashtags may be deleted or temporarily hidden (we use Facebook-provided content moderation/filtering options to hide profanity) and later deleted by county staff if content:
a. Contains obscene, profane, threatening, or harassing language, pictures, GIFs and/or videos;b. Contains sexually explicit images, cartoons, jokes, or links to sexual content;
c. Contains personal attacks, hate speech, or offensive comments that advocate unlawful discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, genetic information, or other circumstance prohibited by federal, state, or local law, rule, or regulation, including Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA);
d. Constitutes sexual harassment;
e. Contains commercial messages, including advertisements, endorsements, solicitations, and spam;
f. Promotes or endorses political campaigns, candidates for election to a political office, or ballot measures;
g. Contains suggestions or encouragement of illegal activity;
h. Contains information that may compromise the safety or security of the public, public systems, the county, its employees, or public officials;
i. Contains defamatory (i.e. slanderous, libelous) remarks, personal attacks, or threats against any individual person or group of people;
j. Violates a legal ownership interest of any other party, such as trademark or copyright infringement;
k. Openly advocates for violence or the threat of violence to themselves or others or sharing about illegal activity (these types of comments will be reported to the appropriate authorities);
l. Discloses confidential or proprietary information or personally identifiable information, such as an address, phone number, social security number, or other sensitive information;
6. Social media creates an environment where others share, connect, and seek public services. This environment must be balanced with protecting confidentiality and compliance with County policies, state and federal laws.
7. Cowley County retains full editorial control over all content of its social media platforms and, when possible, will edit, hide, or delete material if deemed by the County or its representatives to be in violation of any County policy, procedure, state, or federal law.
8. Visitor comments expressed on social media do not reflect the opinions and positions of Cowley County or employees.
If you have any questions concerning the operation of this page, please contact us at 620-221-5402.
Revised 8/14/2023
