Kansas Dog Bite Law: One-Bite Rule & 2-Year Deadline

Q: Does a leash-law violation prove the owner was negligent in Kansas?

Not automatically. In Berry v. Kegans, the Supreme Court found no error in refusing a negligence-per-se instruction based on a Wichita ordinance, on facts where the owners had no reason to expect a bite. A violation still counts as evidence in a negligence claim.

Liability rule	One-bite rule (scienter) and negligence; no statuteBerry v. Kegans (Kan. 1966); Gardner v. Koenig (Kan. 1961).¹³
Deadline to sue	2 years from the biteK.S.A. 60-513(a)(4).⁶
Bitten child	Until age 19, but never later than 8 years after the biteK.S.A. 60-515(a).⁷
Comparative fault	Modified: barred if your fault equals or exceeds the defendants'K.S.A. 60-258a(a).⁹
Landlords	Not liable unless also owner, keeper or harborer of the dogColombel v. Milan (Kan. Ct. App. 1998).⁴
Bite quarantine	10-day observation; place set by the local health officerK.A.R. 28-1-13.¹⁷¹⁸
Dangerous-dog law	No state designation process; city and county ordinancesK.S.A. 21-6418 is the only state offense.²²

How dog bite liability works in Kansas

Kansas never passed a dog bite statute. The rule comes from the courts. In Berry v. Kegans (1966), the Kansas Supreme Court approved a jury instruction that an owner "is not liable for its biting, clawing, or injuring of a person unless the owner has reason to know that it is likely to do so and this knowledge was prior to the incident"¹. A six-year-old who had thrown mud clods at a chained Boxer lost her case¹. When the owner did know, liability is strict: the owner pays even after using the utmost care⁵¹⁰.

Knowledge is not the only route. In Gardner v. Koenig (1961) the Supreme Court adopted the Restatement rule that the keeper of an ordinary animal must still "exercise reasonable care to prevent foreseeable harm"³. The Court of Appeals applied it in Mercer v. Fritts (1984) and held that animal-injury law, not premises law, governs these claims². So a careless owner can be liable for a first bite.

The only dog statute on damages protects animals, not people. Since 1868, K.S.A. 47-645 has made the owner of a dog that kills, wounds or worries a domestic animal liable for all damages, without proof of prior knowledge¹⁵.

Kansas is the outlier in its region. Missouri, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Colorado all have some form of dog bite statute, so in the Kansas City metro the side of State Line Road where the bite happened can decide which rule applies. For the national picture see the one-bite rule guide.

No dog bite statute: the one-bite rule

Kansas has no statute that makes a dog's owner automatically liable for a bite. Claims rest on the common law, described below. See the one-bite rule for how it compares with the states that have a statute.

Proving the owner knew or was careless

Two theories run side by side. The first is strict liability for a known dangerous animal: one who possesses or harbors a domestic animal "that one knows or has reason to know has dangerous propensities abnormal to its class is subject to liability ... although one has exercised the utmost care"⁵. Prior knowledge is the core of it, and the knowledge must come before the bite¹. The second is negligence: the keeper of even a gentle animal must use reasonable care to prevent foreseeable harm, and you need not prove the animal was vicious³². Berry refused to give a negligence-per-se instruction based on a Wichita vicious-animal ordinance on its facts, so a leash or nuisance ordinance violation is evidence to argue, not an automatic win¹.

Defenses owners raise

Provocation: Teasing or provoking the dog can defeat the claim. In Berry v. Kegans, the child had been throwing mud clods at the chained dog and jabbing at it; the verdict for the owners was affirmed¹. The Court of Appeals later described Berry as "simply one of animal incitement to anger and invited injury"².
Other defense: No prior knowledge. Under Berry and the older rule it applied, an owner whose dog had never shown a tendency to bite is not liable under the scienter theory for a dog "in a place where it has a right to be"¹. You then need proof of negligence under Gardner and Mercer²³.
Other defense: Not the owner, keeper or harborer. "Under the common law, no one but an owner, possessor, keeper, or harborer of an animal can be held liable for its actions"⁴. A father who owned the land where his adult son kept a dog in a separate house did not harbor the dog⁵.
Other defense: Your fault, or a parent's. Kansas compares every party's fault, including fault in a strict-liability claim¹⁰. In Mills v. Smith (1983), a jury put 50% of the fault for a toddler's injury on the mother, and the owners paid only their own 40% share¹⁰⁹.
Other defense: Protecting livestock. Anyone may lawfully kill a dog found injuring or attempting to injure livestock¹⁶.

Shared fault

Modified comparative fault (barred at 50%) (K.S.A. 60-258a).

You recover only if your fault is less than that of the parties you sue, and your award is reduced by your percentage⁹. At 50% you recover nothing. Liability is several: each defendant pays only its own share of the fault⁹. The rule applies to strict-liability claims too, and the fault of a child's parents or other caretakers is compared with the owner's¹⁰.

How the five fault systems compare: provocation, trespass and shared fault.

Kansas dog bite statute of limitations

2 years (K.S.A. 60-513(a)(4))

The two years run from the day the bite first causes substantial injury, which is usually the day of the bite⁶. A claim for a pet or other property the dog damaged, and a wrongful-death claim, also have two years⁶. Against a city or county, you must first file a written notice of claim and wait up to 120 days before suing¹⁴.

Children. A child bitten before 18 may sue within one year after turning 18, but no claim may be filed more than eight years after the bite⁷. The rule only adds time: a child always keeps the normal two years from the bite⁸.

Work out your own date with the dog bite claim checker, or compare deadlines in every state.

Damages

You can recover medical bills, lost earnings, pain and suffering, scarring and other losses. The statutory cap on noneconomic damages in personal-injury cases (K.S.A. 60-19a02) was struck down as "facially unconstitutional" in Hilburn v. Enerpipe (2019)¹¹. If an attack kills someone, wrongful-death damages other than pecuniary loss remain capped at $250,000¹³. Punitive damages require clear and convincing proof of willful conduct, wanton conduct, fraud or malice; the judge sets the amount, usually capped at the lesser of the defendant's highest annual gross income in the prior five years or $5 million¹². No statute doubles or trebles damages for a dog bite.

Landlords and property owners

Kansas protects landlords. In Colombel v. Milan (1998), a landlord who allegedly knew a tenant's dog was vicious was still not liable; the court found no Kansas case treating a dog as a structural defect⁴. Carr v. Vannoster (2012) followed it and refused to adopt the broader rules of states such as California⁵. A landlord is liable only as an owner, keeper or harborer, or under one of the narrow premises exceptions, such as an injury on part of the property the landlord kept under its own control⁵.

Insurance

No Kansas statute limits how homeowners or renters insurers use dog breed. The state also sets no insurance requirement for dog owners; any requirement comes from a city ordinance, such as the $50,000 policy that Overland Park's 1987 pit bull ordinance required²⁶.

More on coverage, breed exclusions and renters policies: dog bite insurance.

Why Kansas still uses the one-bite rule

Kansas courts have kept the common-law approach for more than a century. Mills v. Smith (1983) traced the strict-liability rule for known vicious domestic animals back to Carl v. Ackard (1923), and used the same reasoning to make owners of wild animals strictly liable¹⁰. In 1998, Colombel v. Milan restated that "Kansas follows the common law of injury-by-animal"⁴.

The Court of Appeals has said it will not expand liability on its own. In Carr v. Vannoster (2012), the injured woman asked the court to follow California, Oregon and Pennsylvania cases that hold landlords liable for tenants' dogs. The court declined, noting that the limits on landlord liability came from the Kansas Supreme Court⁵. The legislature has not stepped in either: no Kansas statute makes a dog owner liable for injuring a person, while K.S.A. 47-645 has made owners liable for dogs that kill or wound livestock and other domestic animals since 1868¹⁵.

Bite reports and quarantine

We found no Kansas statute or KDHE rule that requires every dog bite to be reported; city and county ordinances set who must report and to whom. Any law enforcement officer or local health officer may take up an animal that has exposed a person to rabies¹⁹. Laboratory-confirmed rabid animals are reported to KDHE, which runs a 24-hour line for rabies questions²⁰.

An owned dog that bites a person must be observed for signs of rabies for 10 days, at the owner's home, a veterinary premises or a licensed shelter, as the local health officer or KDHE decides¹⁸. The owner may not sell, give away or move the dog until it is released and pays any boarding fees¹⁸. A stray or unwanted dog that bites is euthanized and tested¹⁸. The rule is binding: K.A.R. 28-1-13 adopts KDHE's requirements by reference¹⁷.

Dangerous-dog hearings, euthanasia orders and criminal penalties are covered on Kansas dangerous dog law.

Questions about Kansas dog bite law

Is Kansas a one-bite state?

Yes. Kansas has no dog bite statute, so you must show the owner knew or had reason to know, before the bite, that the dog was likely to bite¹. If you can't, you can still win by proving the owner failed to use reasonable care to prevent foreseeable harm³².

How long does a bitten child have to sue in Kansas?

A child has the normal two years from the bite, or until one year after turning 18, whichever is later⁷⁸. But no claim can be filed more than eight years after the bite⁷. For a child bitten at age 5, the eight-year limit ends the claim at age 13, long before 19.

Can I sue my landlord or my neighbor's landlord for a dog bite in Kansas?

Usually not. Kansas courts hold that only the owner, possessor, keeper or harborer of a dog is liable for it, even if the landlord knew the dog was vicious⁴. A landlord can be liable only in narrow situations, such as an area of the property the landlord kept control of⁵.

Does a leash-law violation prove the owner was negligent in Kansas?

Not automatically. In Berry v. Kegans, the Supreme Court found no error in refusing a negligence-per-se instruction based on a Wichita ordinance, on facts where the owners had no reason to expect a bite¹. A violation still counts as evidence in a negligence claim³.

Who pays when a dog kills or injures my pet or livestock in Kansas?

The dog's owner. K.S.A. 47-645 makes the owner liable for all damages when a dog kills, wounds or worries a domestic animal, without proof of prior knowledge¹⁵. You have two years to sue⁶. See also dog attacked my dog.

Official contacts

Office	For
Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Response(877) 427-7317	Rabies questions and post-exposure advice (24 hours)
Kansas Bar Association Lawyer Referral Service	Referral to a lawyer (no referral fee)

Sources

Berry v. Kegans, 196 Kan. 388, 411 P.2d 707 (1966), CourtListener (Kansas Supreme Court opinion). Checked 17 October 2026.
Mercer v. Fritts, 9 Kan. App. 2d 232, 676 P.2d 150 (1984), CourtListener (Kansas Court of Appeals opinion). Checked 17 October 2026.
Gardner v. Koenig, 188 Kan. 135, 360 P.2d 1107 (1961), CourtListener (Kansas Supreme Court opinion). Checked 17 October 2026.
Colombel v. Milan, 24 Kan. App. 2d 728, 952 P.2d 941 (1998), CourtListener (Kansas Court of Appeals opinion). Checked 17 October 2026.
Carr v. Vannoster, No. 106,177 (Kan. Ct. App. Aug. 3, 2012) (published), Kansas Judicial Branch. Checked 17 October 2026.
K.S.A. 60-513, Actions limited to two years, Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Checked 17 October 2026.
K.S.A. 60-515, Persons under legal disability, Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Checked 17 October 2026.
Smith v. Yell Bell Taxi, Inc., 276 Kan. 305, 75 P.3d 1222 (2003), CourtListener (Kansas Supreme Court opinion). Checked 17 October 2026.
K.S.A. 60-258a, Comparative negligence, Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Checked 17 October 2026.
Mills v. Smith, 9 Kan. App. 2d 80, 673 P.2d 117 (1983), CourtListener (Kansas Court of Appeals opinion). Checked 17 October 2026.
Hilburn v. Enerpipe Ltd., 309 Kan. 1127, 442 P.3d 509 (2019), CourtListener (Kansas Supreme Court opinion). Checked 17 October 2026.
K.S.A. 60-3702, Punitive damages, Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Checked 17 October 2026.
K.S.A. 60-1903, Wrongful death damages, Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Checked 17 October 2026.
K.S.A. 12-105b, Claims against municipalities; notice of claim, Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Checked 17 October 2026.
K.S.A. 47-645, Liability of owner of dog for damages, Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Checked 17 October 2026.
K.S.A. 47-646, Killing dog lawful, when, Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Checked 17 October 2026.
K.A.R. 28-1-13, Rabies control, Kansas Department of Health and Environment. Checked 17 October 2026.
Rabies Control Requirements (Oct. 19, 2017), Kansas Department of Health and Environment. Checked 17 October 2026.
K.S.A. 75-5661, Management of mammal exposed to rabies, Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Checked 17 October 2026.
Rabies, Kansas Department of Health and Environment. Checked 17 October 2026.
K.S.A. 47-646a, Killing dogs unconfined in violation of quarantine, Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Checked 17 October 2026.
K.S.A. 21-6418, Permitting a dangerous animal to be at large, Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Checked 17 October 2026.
K.S.A. 21-6602, Misdemeanor sentences, Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Checked 17 October 2026.
K.S.A. 21-6611, Fines, Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Checked 17 October 2026.
K.S.A. 21-5405, Involuntary manslaughter, Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Checked 17 October 2026.
Hearn v. City of Overland Park, 244 Kan. 638, 772 P.2d 758 (1989), CourtListener (Kansas Supreme Court opinion). Checked 17 October 2026.

Key rules in Kansas