Brief(1)
The bill would create two new crimes: identity theft and unlawful administration of a substance; would amend existing law regarding death sentences; and would authorize certain inmates to waive the right to a final release revocation hearing.
Identity Theft. Identity theft would be knowingly and with intent to defraud for economic gain obtaining, possessing, transferring, using, or attempting to obtain, posses, transfer, or use one or more identification documents or personal identification number of another person other than those issued lawfully for the use of the possessor.
Identification documents would be defined as any card, certificate, or document that identifies or purports to identify the bearer of the document, whether or not intended for use as identification. Identification documents would include, but not be limited to, documents purporting to be drivers' licenses, nondrivers' identification cards, birth certificates, social security cards, and employee identification cards. The crime of identity theft would be a class A person felony.
Unlawful Administration of a Substance. The bill also would create the crime of unlawful administration of a substance. That crime would be defined as the intentional and knowing administration of a substance to another person without consent for the purpose of impairing the recipient's physical or mental ability to appraise or control the person's conduct. The crime could be committed by using any method of causing another person to ingest any controlled substance, gamma hydroxybutynic acid or its salts, ketamine, or butyrolactone. Administration of a noted substance for lawful medical or therapeutic purposes would not be prohibited. Unlawful administration of a substance would be a level 9 person felony.
Death Penalty Amendments. Executions would have to be carried out during a specific week designated by the Supreme Court, rather than on a specific date. The Secretary of Corrections could perform the execution at any time during the designated week. The Secretary would have to provide notice of the date of the execution to the clerk of the Supreme Court, the clerk of the district court in which the defendant was convicted, the defendant, the defendant's counsel, and the Attorney General. The execution could take place anytime on the date selected or as soon thereafter as the Secretary of Corrections deemed appropriate.
The House amendments would establish procedures under which the Supreme Court would:
set the execution week of a convict determined by a court to be sane or who had escaped from custody and was not recaptured prior to the original execution date; or
suspend a death sentence if the convict is found to be insane or determined to be pregnant.
The bill would also require that the identities of witnesses, executioners, and other persons who assist with an execution be confidential unless a witness elects to reveal the witness's identity.
Release Revocation Hearing Waiver. The bill would authorize an inmate under determinate sentencing to waive the right to a final release revocation hearing before the Kansas Parole Board. The waiver would occur under conditions and terms prescribed by rules and regulations of the Parole Board.
Background
The bill creating the crime of identity theft was requested for introduction by Representative Sharp. The bill as introduced was patterned after a federal bill that would address the same issue. Representatives of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) presented testimony in support of the bill to the House and Senate Committees on Federal and State Affairs. One of the KBI conferees suggested to the House Committee that the bill be amended to also cover personal identification numbers. No opponents to the bill presented testimony at the Committee hearings.
The House Committee amended the bill to include personal identification numbers. The House Committee of the Whole amended the bill to make economic benefit an element of the crime and to specify that the identification used in the crime would have to be that of another person.
The Senate Committee amended the bill to reduce identity theft from a felony to a misdemeanor, include the new crime of unlawful administration of a substance, and the death penalty procedures. Similar, but not identical provisions regarding unlawful administration of a substance were originally in S.B. 690 which was in the Senate Committee on Federal and State Affairs. The death penalty administration provisions were originally in H.B. 2463 as passed by the House. That bill was in the Senate Committee on Judiciary when the Federal and State Affairs Committee took its action.
The Senate on Final Action amended the bill to include the provisions related to release revocation hearing waivers. This section was originally included in S.B. 587, a bill which was passed by the Senate but remained in the House Committee on Judiciary when the Senate took its action.
The fiscal note prepared by the Division of the Budget on the introduced version of H.B. 2739 states that the bill would not have a direct impact on prison admissions because the severity level designates primarily nonprison sentences. The fiscal note on the introduced version of S.B. 690 stated that no fiscal impact of the bill was anticipated. The fiscal note on the introduced version of H.B. 2463 did not mention any impact of the provisions of that bill amended into H.B. 2739. Finally, the fiscal note on S.B. 587 stated that the provisions relating to the release revocation hearing waiver may result in a reduction in inmates' duration of incarceration; however, there is no way to accurately estimate the resulting fiscal impact.
1. *Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at http://www.ink.org/public/legislative/fulltext-bill.html.