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Minutes for SB228 - Committee on Corrections and Juvenile Justice
Short Title
Modernizing statutes concerning county jails, removing the requirement that every county shall have a jail, modifying procedures used when district courts commit prisoners to jail in another county and when counties contract with city jails to keep prisoners and requiring a medical examination before certain United States prisoners or city prisoners are taken into custody of a county jail.
Minutes Content for Wed, Mar 8, 2023
Chairperson Owens opened the hearing on SB228. Natalie Scott provided an overview of the bill and responded to questions from committee members. (Attachment 5)
Sheriff Jeff Easter, Sedgwick County testified on behalf of the Kansas Sheriffs Association in support of the bill. He said that most of the statutes in Chapter 19, Article 19 were last amended in 1923 and some of the law is antiquated and out of date. Some of the requirements are impractical, inefficient and in some cases not consistent with case law. They believe the proposed changes in the bill will update the statute to current practices and current case law. (Attachment 6) Sheriff Easter responded to questions from committee members.
Chief Darrell Atteberry, Belaire Police Department testified on behalf of the Kansas Association of Chiefs of Police in support of the bill. The Kansas Association of Chiefs of Police and the Kansas Sheriffs Association have had informal discussions over the past few years about the need for change due to the absence of addressing medical clearance in the statute. The current statute provides little guidance and this bill would help create clarity. (Attachment 7)
Written proponent testimony was submitted by Jay Hall, Deputy Director and General Counsel, Kansas Association of Counties. (Attachment 8)
Tara Mays, Vice President State Legislative Relations, Kansas Hospital Association testified on behalf of the 123 community hospitals across the state of Kansas. Ms. Mays said there were two components of this bill that were of interest to the Kansas hospitals. One component is they don’t want to have a lot of “un-arresting” and people being dropped off at the hospitals and the second component being they don’t want to do anything that would contribute to additional uncompensated care. They worked with the Kansas Sheriffs Association on suggested language to amend Section 12, paragraph (a)(3) to provide clarity. (Attachment 9) Ms. Mays responded to questions from committee members.
Written opponent testimony was submitted by D.C. Hiegert, American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas. (Attachment 10)
Chairperson Owens closed the hearing on SB228. The meeting was adjourned at 2:27 PM.
