Criminal Justice in Kansas

died · Kansas · Senate Apr 10, 2026

SB 133: Enacting the responsible gun ownership act to establish the crime of unlawful storage of a firearm.

SB 133 creates a new crime in Kansas for "unlawful storage of a firearm," defined as storing a firearm unsecured (without a trigger lock, locked container, or other reasonable secure location) when a minor accesses it, uses it to cause injury, or causes death. It directly affects gun owners who store firearms in unsecured locations where minors could access them. Penalties range from a class C misdemeanor for minor access alone to a severity level 9 felony for causing bodily harm and a severity level 5 felony for causing death or great bodily harm. The law includes exemptions, such as if the firearm was inoperable, in the owner’s immediate control, or used by a minor in lawful self-defense.

Topics ✗ Criminal Justice

Sub-Topics Firearms

signed · Kansas · Senate Apr 9, 2026

SB 84: Enacting the supported decision-making agreements act to provide a statutory framework for allowing an adult to receive decision-making assistance from one or more other adults, requirements for decision-making agreements and duties related thereto.

SB 84 expands Kansas law to treat unauthorized use of gift cards as a crime, similar to stolen financial cards. It specifically makes it illegal to steal, alter, or use gift cards without consent, or to possess gift card information (like codes) without permission. Penalties range from a misdemeanor for theft under $1,000 to a felony for amounts over $25,000 within seven days. The bill directly affects individuals who commit gift card fraud and applies to both physical and digital gift cards sold by businesses. It clarifies definitions for terms like "gift card," "closed-loop" (single-store), and "open-loop" (multi-merchant) cards to ensure consistent enforcement.

Topics ✗ Criminal Justice

vetoed · Kansas · House Apr 9, 2026

HB 2329: Changing the name of juvenile crisis intervention centers to juvenile stabilization centers, modifying the intake criteria for such centers, prohibiting certain rules and regulations for such centers, modifying the treatment and services provided by such centers, increasing the cumulative detention limit for juvenile offenders and criminal penalties for juvenile offenders who use a firearm in the commission of an offense or who are repeat offenders, providing for increased placement of offenders in non-foster home beds in youth residential facilities, requiring the secretary of corrections to pay for the costs associated with such placements, authorizing the secretary to make expenditures from the evidence-based programs account of the state general fund moneys to contract for such beds and transferring moneys from such account of the state general fund to the department for children and families to provide juvenile stabilization services.

HB 2329 increases the cumulative detention limit for juvenile offenders who commit repeat offenses or use a firearm during a crime, raising criminal penalties for these specific situations. The bill expands placement options by requiring more juveniles to be housed in specialized youth residential facilities (non-foster home beds) rather than foster care, with the secretary of corrections responsible for covering these costs. It authorizes the secretary to use funds from the state's evidence-based programs account to contract for these facility beds, ensuring cost coverage without requiring new legislative appropriations.

Topics ✗ Criminal Justice

Sub-Topics Firearms Juvenile Justice

failed · Kansas · House Apr 9, 2026

HB 2164: Senate Substitute for HB 2164 by Committee on Judiciary - Prohibiting certain sex offenders from entering onto school property or attending school activities and creating criminal penalties for violation thereof.

HB 2164 prohibits adult sex offenders (18+ years old) whose underlying crime involved a victim under 18 from entering school property or attending school activities in Kansas. It creates criminal penalties for violations, classifying first offenses as a severity level 6 felony, second offenses as level 5, and third or subsequent offenses as level 3 felonies. The bill amends Kansas' offender registration laws to include this restriction as part of the Kansas Offender Registration Act. It directly affects sex offenders convicted of crimes against minors, such as those involving indecent liberties, sexual battery, or exploitation where the victim was under 18 at the time. The law applies to all Kansas public and private schools, including athletic events and extracurricular activities.

Topics ✗ Criminal Justice

signed · Kansas · House Apr 10, 2025

HB 2061: Including aboveground and belowground lines, cables and wires in the definition of a critical infrastructure facility used for telecommunications or video services for the crimes of trespassing on a critical infrastructure facility and criminal damage to a critical infrastructure facility.

HB 2061 expands the legal definition of "critical infrastructure facility" for telecommunications crimes to explicitly include aboveground and belowground lines, cables, and wires. This change directly affects telecommunications and video service providers (like Charter Communications, which requested the bill) by bringing physical infrastructure such as buried fiber optic cables and overhead power lines under existing trespassing and damage laws. The bill amends Kansas law to clarify that knowingly entering or damaging these infrastructure elements - previously not explicitly covered - constitutes trespassing or criminal damage to a critical infrastructure facility. Penalties range from misdemeanors to felonies depending on the severity, aligning physical telecom infrastructure with other critical facilities like power grids under the same legal protections.

Topics ✗ Criminal Justice ✓ Technology

Sub-Topics Broadband Access Telecommunications

in committee · Kansas · House Feb 19, 2026

HB 2404: Prohibiting certain sex offenders from entering onto school property or attending school activities and creating criminal penalties for violation thereof.

HB 2404 prohibits adult sex offenders whose underlying crime involved a victim under 18 years old from entering school property or attending school activities in Kansas. It directly affects individuals required to register under the Kansas Offender Registration Act for crimes against minors, such as those involving indecent liberties with a child or sexual battery with a minor victim. Violating this prohibition is a felony, with penalties increasing from a severity level 6 felony for a first offense to a severity level 3 felony for third or subsequent offenses. The bill amends Kansas statutes to add this restriction to the existing offender registration framework.

Topics ✗ Criminal Justice

died · Kansas · Senate Apr 10, 2026

SB 180: Requiring previous convictions to be considered in determining bond when a person is arrested for certain sex offenses.

SB 180 requires Kansas magistrates to consider a person’s prior convictions when setting bond for individuals arrested for certain sex offenses. This applies specifically to those charged with qualifying sex offenses at their first court appearance. The bill amends Kansas bond statutes to mandate that prior convictions be factored into the bond decision, alongside other safety and appearance considerations. It does not change bond amounts but adds prior criminal history as a required factor for these cases. The bill directly affects people arrested for specified sex offenses who may be released before trial.

Topics ✗ Criminal Justice

Sub-Topics Courts

died · Kansas · Senate Apr 10, 2026

SB 239: Creating a special sentencing rule to add 100 months to a sentence for distribution of a controlled substance when the substance involved is fentanyl and the distribution causes the death of a child.

SB 239 amends Kansas sentencing laws to add 100 months to prison sentences for individuals convicted of distributing fentanyl when that distribution causes a child's death. It directly affects drug distributors whose actions result in a child's death through fentanyl distribution. The bill modifies Kansas sentencing guidelines (K.S.A. 21-6804 and 21-6805) to create this specific sentencing enhancement, requiring courts to add the 100-month penalty on top of the standard sentence. This change applies only to fentanyl-related distribution cases that directly cause a child's death, not to other drug offenses or adult deaths.

Topics ✗ Criminal Justice

Sub-Topics Drug Policy Sentencing

signed · Kansas · House Apr 9, 2026

HB 2192: Limiting or prohibiting work release for people convicted of a second or third offense of domestic battery, requiring an offender convicted of a first offense to undergo a domestic violence offender assessment, excluding certain offenders convicted of a nonperson felony from participation in certified drug abuse treatment programs and authorizing community correctional services officers to complete criminal risk-need assessments for divertees who are committed to such programs.

HB 2192 restricts work release for individuals convicted of a second or third offense of domestic battery in Kansas. For a second offense within five years, work release is only permitted after serving 45 consecutive days (previously 48 hours), and probation/suspension requires at least 45 days served. For a third or subsequent offense, the bill prohibits work release entirely until the offender serves 90 consecutive days of imprisonment. This amendment to Kansas law (K.S.A. 21-5414) directly affects repeat domestic battery offenders by extending mandatory prison time before eligibility for work release or other supervised release options.

Topics ✗ Criminal Justice

Sub-Topics Domestic Violence Probation & Parole

died · Kansas · House Apr 10, 2026

HB 2253: Making the theft of livestock or implements of husbandry a severity level 5, nonperson felony.

HB 2253 elevates the theft of livestock or farm equipment (like plows or barn tools) to a severity level 5 felony, the highest penalty category for nonperson crimes in Kansas. This change applies specifically to thefts of livestock (as defined in K.S.A. 22-4807a) or implements of husbandry (as defined in K.S.A. 8-126), regardless of the property's value. The bill amends Kansas law to explicitly categorize these thefts under severity level 5, replacing the previous lower-level felony classification. It also allows for the forfeiture of property used to commit theft of farm equipment.

Topics ✗ Criminal Justice

All criminal justice bills