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Minutes for SB448 - Committee on Judiciary

Short Title

Establishing procedures in the Kansas code of procedure for municipal courts related to determination of an accused person's competency to stand trial and requiring the secretary for aging and disability services to reimburse counties for the costs of keeping persons in the custody of a county jail awaiting examination, evaluation or treatment.

Minutes Content for Wed, Feb 14, 2024

Chairwoman Warren opened the hearing on SB448

Jason Thompson, Revisor's office, gave an overview of the bill and stood for questions.(Attachment1)

Ryan Dixon provided proponent testimony on the bill  SB448 would allow a municipal judge to order a competency evaluation (it would not be mandatory) and if the defendant is found incompetent, the case would be referred to the county attorney for refiling in the district court. (Attachment 2)

Written-only testimony in support of SB448 was submitted by:

  • Karen Torline, Chair, Legislative Committee, Kansas Municipal Judges Association (Attachment 3)
  • Keith Drill, President Elect Kansas Municipal Judges Association (Attachment 4)
  • Rashane Hamby, Director of Policy and Research at the ACLU (Attachment 5)
  • Sharon Dicksgraf, City Attorney, City of Wichita (Attachment 6)

No Neutral conferees.

Amanda Stanley, City Attorney, City of Topeka gave testimony is opposition to the bill. She stated that ultimately this legislation results in more questions than answers.  The State would be better served to invest more money in solving the root of the increasing mental health problems in our community. (Attachment 7)

No further conferees.

Chairwoman Warren closed the hearing on SB448