Kansas, Missouri rank midpack for religious liberty
Kansas and Missouri landed in the middle of a new national ranking of religious liberty protections, with both states trailing neighboring Arkansas despite having laws that broadly protect religious exercise.
Kansas placed 22nd and Missouri 29th in the 2026 Religious Liberty in the States index, released by the First Liberty Institute’s Center for Religion, Culture and Democracy. Kansas received a score of 41.8 percent, while Missouri scored 37.9 percent.
The annual study examines state constitutions and statutes for 50 legal protections grouped into 20 categories. They include health care conscience rights, religious exemptions in schools, protections for houses of worship and the right to decline participation in weddings because of religious convictions.
The scores measure protections written into state law. They do not measure residents’ personal experiences, the number of religious-liberty disputes or how courts have applied those laws.
READ: Best places to live in Kansas/Missouri ranked
Arkansas led the nation with a score of 89.2 percent, followed by Tennessee at 85 percent. They were the first states to receive the index’s “excellent” rating. New York ranked last.
Kansas and Missouri both have Religious Freedom Restoration Acts. Those laws generally require the government to demonstrate a compelling interest and use the least restrictive means available when it substantially burdens a person’s religious exercise.
A separate study produced a much different picture. Napa Legal Institute’s 2025 Faith and Freedom Index ranked Kansas second and Missouri 14th among 51 jurisdictions for their treatment of faith-based nonprofit organizations. Kansas scored 69 percent overall and 79 percent specifically for religious freedom.
Napa Legal praised Kansas for “exemplary protections for faith-based nonprofits that other states should emulate.”
The difference comes largely from what the studies measure. Napa Legal focuses on nonprofit tax rules, charitable-registration requirements and protections for religious employers. First Liberty casts a wider net, including conscience protections in health care, education, family law, government and business.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation criticized First Liberty’s approach, arguing that the index rewards religious exemptions from laws that otherwise apply to everyone. First Liberty says the report gives lawmakers a state-by-state account of protections already enacted and those still absent.
–Alan Goforth
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