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2016 Statute



Prev Article 29a. - COMMITMENT OF SEXUALLY VIOLENT PREDATORSNext


59-29a08. Same; annual examinations; discharge petitions by persons committed under this act over the secretary's objection at time of annual examination, notice to committed person of right, procedure; hearing; transitional release; violating conditions of release. (a) Each person committed under the Kansas sexually violent predator act shall have a current examination of the person's mental condition made once every year. The secretary shall provide the committed person with an annual written notice of the person's right to petition the court for release over the secretary's objection. The notice shall contain a waiver of rights. The secretary shall also forward the annual report, as well as the annual notice and waiver form, to the court that committed the person under the Kansas sexually violent predator act. The person may retain, or if the person is indigent and so requests the court may appoint a qualified professional person to examine such person, and such expert or professional person shall have access to all records concerning the person. The court that committed the person under the Kansas sexually violent predator act shall then conduct an annual review of the status of the committed person's mental condition. The committed person shall have a right to have an attorney represent the person at the hearing but the person is not entitled to be present at the hearing.

(b) Nothing contained in the Kansas sexually violent predator act shall prohibit the person in conditional release from otherwise petitioning the court for discharge at the annual review hearing.

(c)If the court at the annual review hearing determines that probable cause exists to believe that the person's mental abnormality or personality disorder has so changed that the person is safe to be placed in transitional release, then the court shall set a hearing on the issue. The committed person shall be entitled to be present and entitled to the benefit of all constitutional protections that were afforded the person pursuant to K.S.A. 59-29a06, and amendments thereto. The attorney general shall represent the state and shall have a right to have the committed person evaluated by experts chosen by the state. The committed person shall also have the right to have experts evaluate the person on the person's behalf and the court shall appoint an expert if the person is indigent and requests an appointment. The burden of proof at the hearing for transitional release shall be upon the state to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the committed person's mental abnormality or personality disorder remains such that the person is not safe to be placed in transitional release and if transitionally released is likely to engage in acts of sexual violence.

(d) If, after the hearing, the court is convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the person is not appropriate for transitional release, the court shall order that the person remain in secure commitment. Otherwise, the court shall order that the person be placed in transitional release.

(e) If the court determines that the person should be placed in transitional release, the secretary shall transfer the person to the transitional release program. The secretary may contract for services to be provided in the transitional release program. During any period the person is in transitional release, that person shall comply with any rules or regulations the secretary may establish for this program and every directive of the treatment staff of the transitional release program.

(f) At any time during which the person is in the transitional release program and the treatment staff determines that the person has violated any rule, regulation or directive associated with the transitional release program, the treatment staff may remove the person from the transitional release program and return the person to the secure commitment facility, or may request the district court to issue an emergency ex parte order directing any law enforcement officer to take the person into custody and return the person to the secure commitment facility. Any such request may be made verbally or by telephone, but shall be followed in written, facsimile or electronic form delivered to the court by not later than 5:00 p.m. of the first day the district court is open for the transaction of business after the verbal or telephonic request was made.

(g) Upon the person being returned to the secure commitment facility from the transitional release program, notice thereof shall be given by the secretary to the court. The court shall set the matter for a hearing within two working days of receipt of notice of the person's having been returned to the secure commitment facility and cause notice thereof to be given to the attorney general, the person and the secretary. The attorney general shall have the burden of proof to show probable cause that the person violated conditions of transitional release. The hearing shall be to the court. At the conclusion of the hearing the court shall issue an order returning the person to the secure commitment facility or to the transitional release program, and may order such other further conditions with which the person must comply if the person is returned to the transitional release program.

History: L. 1994, ch. 316, § 8; L. 1995, ch. 193, § 7; L. 1998, ch. 198, § 4; L. 2003, ch. 152, § 5; L. 2007, ch. 170, § 5; L. 2010, ch. 5, § 5; L. 2015, ch. 95, § 8; July 1.



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