As Amended by House Committee
Session of 2000
HOUSE BILL No. 3000
By Committee on Appropriations
2-22
11 AN ACT
concerning the ombudsman of corrections; relating to juvenile
12 offenders; amending
K.S.A. 74-7403, 74-7404, 74-7405a and 74-7406
13 and repealing the
existing sections.
14
15 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the
State of Kansas:
16 Section
1. K.S.A. 74-7403 is hereby amended to read as follows:
74-
17 7403. (a) The governor
shall appoint an ombudsman of corrections
18 who shall serve at the pleasure of the
governor. The compensation paid
19 to the ombudsman shall be fixed by the
governor. The secretary of ad-
20 ministration shall provide the ombudsman
with office space at Topeka.
21 The ombudsman may appoint such employees as
may be necessary to
22 carry out the duties of the office of
ombudsman of corrections and as are
23 within available appropriations. Clerical
positions shall be in the classified
24 service under the Kansas civil service act
and all other employees shall
25 be in the unclassified service under the
Kansas civil service act. Any mis-
26 feasance or discrepancy in administration
or any unreasonable treatment
27 of inmates in the custody of the secretary
of corrections or inmates housed
28 by any entity under contract with the
secretary of corrections which the
29 ombudsman discovers or the inmates bring to
the attention of the om-
30 budsman shall be brought to the attention
of the secretary of corrections
31 and shall be made known in periodic reports
and in an annual report
32 issued by the ombudsman. The ombudsman
shall forward complaints and
33 grievances directly to the secretary of
corrections for consideration by the
34 secretary.
35 (b) Any
misfeasance or discrepancy in administration or any unrea-
36 sonable treatment of juvenile offenders
in the custody of the commissioner
37 of juvenile justice or
juvenile offenders housed by any entity under con-
38 tract with the commissioner of
juvenile justice which the ombudsman
39 discovers or
which the juvenile offenders bring to the attention of
the
40 ombudsman shall be brought to the
attention of the commissioner of ju-
41 venile justice and shall be made known
in periodic reports and in an
42 annual report issued by the ombudsman.
The ombudsman shall forward
43 complaints and grievances concerning
treatment of juvenile offenders di-
2
1 rectly to the commissioner of
juvenile justice.
2 (c) The
ombudsman of corrections shall have access to any juvenile
3 records maintained by the juvenile
justice authority unless disclosure of
4 such records are prohibited by
federal law.
5 Sec.
2. K.S.A. 74-7404 is hereby amended to read as follows:
74-
6 7404. (a) The ombudsman of
corrections may enter and inspect at any
7 reasonable time: (1) Any
premises under the control of the secretary of
8 corrections or under the control of
any entity housing inmates under
9 contract with the secretary of
corrections; and (2) any premises under
the
10 control of the commissioner of
juvenile justice or any entity housing ju-
11 venile offenders under contract
with the commissioner of juvenile justice
12 the Atchison juvenile correctional
facility, Beloit juvenile correc-
13 tional facility, Larned juvenile
correctional facility and Topeka ju-
14 venile correctional facility and may
delegate that authority in writing
15 to any employee of the office acting as an
ombudsman.
16 (b) If the
ombudsman of corrections or any employee of the office
17 acting as an ombudsman who has been
delegated in writing the authority
18 granted under subsection (a) is denied
access to any premises under the
19 control of the secretary of corrections,
the secretary or the secretary's
20 designee, within 24 hours after the denial,
shall give the ombudsman a
21 written statement of the reason for the
denial of access.
22 (c) If the
ombudsman of corrections or any employee of the office
23 acting as an ombudsman who has been
delegated in writing the authority
24 granted under subsection (a) is denied
access to any premises under the
25 control of the commissioner of juvenile
justice, the commissioner or such
26 commissioner's designee, within 24 hours
after the denial, shall give the
27 ombudsman a written statement of the
reason for the denial of access.
28 (d) The complainant shall
exhaust all facility grievance proce-
29 dures prior to the ombudsman's action on
a complaint or
30 grievance.
31 Sec.
3. K.S.A. 74-7405a is hereby amended to read as follows:
74-
32 7405a. Records of the office of the
ombudsman of corrections or of the
33 corrections ombudsman board which relate to
complaints by correctional
34 inmates, juvenile offenders or
employees shall not be disclosed directly
35 or indirectly to any person except as
authorized by the ombudsman of
36 corrections or by a majority vote of the
corrections ombudsman board.
37 Sec.
4. K.S.A. 74-7406 is hereby amended to read as follows:
74-
38 7406. No documents relating to complaints,
investigations or studies in
39 the possession of the ombudsman of
corrections or any employee of the
40 ombudsman shall be read, copied or taken by
any officer or employee of
41 the department of corrections or the
juvenile justice authority, as the case
42 may be, except as authorized by the
ombudsman or the employee of the
43 ombudsman.
3
1 Sec. 5. K.S.A. 74-7403,
74-7404, 74-7405a and 74-7406 are hereby
2 repealed.
3 Sec. 6. This act
shall take effect and be in force from and after its
4 publication in the statute book.