Version: (using KDE KDE 3.5.5) It should be shown in front (quite obvious) otherwise the user can die for some action not knowing, the printer dialog asks her/him to authenticate, but the authentication is "hidden".
KDE 4.7.1-4.7.3 openSUSE 12,1, Gentoo ~x86 the problem still exists and as far as i remember, this bug was in 4.2.*, 4.3.*, 4.4.*, 4.5.* and 4.6.* branches too.
Hello! Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but this project has been unmaintained for many years so I am closing this bug. Kcontrol has been replaced by System Settings in Plasma. Please give the latest version of that a try, and open a new bug in "systemsettings" if you continue to have an issue. Thank you!