Brief⁽¹⁾

H.B. 2440 makes major revisions in the Kansas sentencing guidelines law and amends other criminal law and criminal procedure statutes. The bill increases the length of sentences for certain crimes and for severity level III crimes on the nondrug sentencing grid; reduces the length of sentences for certain crimes and for severity levels I and II crimes on the nondrug grid; changes the Hard 40 law regarding aggravating circumstances; and makes other changes.

Provisions which increase the length of sentence include the following.

• The length of the life sentence for crimes of felony murder and treason are increased from 15 to 20 years before parole eligibility.



• The sentence lengths of all criminal history categories on the nondrug severity level III are increased by 20 percent. This recommendation would result in the range of sentences being increased from the current minimum of 3.8 years to 4.6 years and the current maximum from 17.2 years to 20.6 years. The mean sentence for that severity level increases from 6.1 years to 7.3 years. Offenses classified as severity level III crimes include kidnaping, aggravated robbery, voluntary manslaughter, and aggravated indecent liberties with a child.



• Intentional second degree murder is reclassified from an off-grid offense to a severity level I offense. Under current law, an offender convicted of intentional second degree murder is parole eligible, regardless of criminal history, at ten years. Severity level I provides a sentence range of 15.3 years to 68 years, depending on criminal history classification. The mean sentence of this severity level is 24.3 years. (Even though 15 percent good-time credits are available, the offender would still serve as much and, in most cases more time, than under the current off-grid classification.)



• A new presumptive prison sentence is added for a conviction of the crime of residential burglary, when the offender has a prior conviction for either a residential burglary or a nonresidential burglary.



• The penalty for the crime of aggravated escape from custody is raised from a severity level 6 person felony to a severity level 5 person felony, when the offender is in the custody of the Secretary of Corrections and escapes from a state-operated correctional facility. This proposal differentiates the degree of seriousness in escaping from a community corrections facility versus a correctional institution.

The following provisions of H.B. 2440 reduce the length of sentence as noted below.

• All criminal history categories on the nondrug grid severity levels I and II are reduced by 20 percent. This proposal would result in the minimum sentence for severity level I be changed from 15.3 yeas to 12.2 years and the maximum sentence from 68 years to 54.4 years, with the mean adjusted from 24.3 years to 19.5 years. Under current law, the sentence for an off-grid offense is actually shorter than for a severity level I offense.



• Felony driving with a suspended license for third and subsequent offenses and the habitual violator statute, both currently severity level 9, nonperson felonies, are reclassified as Class A, nonperson misdemeanors.



• The crime of criminal deprivation of property--a motor vehicle (joy riding) is reclassified from a nongrid felony to a class A, nonperson misdemeanor.



• An amendment to K.S.A. 21-3520, unlawful sexual relations, creates a new sentencing structure for what is commonly referred to as the "Romeo and Juliet" situations. The new subsection makes it a severity level VIII, person felony when the offender is less than three years older than the victim and the victim is greater than 14 years of age but less than 16 years of age and the sexual activity is voluntary. The crimes of indecent liberties with a child (level 5), aggravated indecent liberties (level 3 or level 4), criminal sodomy (level 3), indecent solicitation (level 7), and the sex offender registration law are all amended to reflect this change.



• The bill also designates the location of incarceration for a third or subsequent felony domestic battery conviction, a nongrid felony, to be at the local level (county jail) to provide consistency with other nongrid felonies, such as DUI. Nongrid felonies are not assigned a severity level nor a determinate period of incarceration.

Other changes contained in H.B. 2440 include the following.

• The bill allows the offender to waive his/her right to a parole revocation hearing and begin to immediately serve the appropriate period of incarceration. Under current law, when an offender violates the conditions of postrelease supervision, the offender must wait until the revocation hearing before the Parole Board occurs, to start serving the appropriate sentence for the violation.



• The bill also makes misdemeanor pre-sentence investigation reports a part of the official court record and accessible to the public in the same manner as current law allows for felony pre-sentence investigation reports.



• The bill requires that the judge shall impose consecutive sentences on a defendant upon a conviction when an offender commits a new felony while released on felony bond. The imposition of a prison sentence for the new crime does not constitute a departure.

• Finally, H.B. 2440 also amends the Hard 40 law regarding aggravating circumstances to include that in determining whether a crime is especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel, to cover situations when the act that caused the death of the victim was part of one continuous act of physical violence intended to cause the death of the victim.

Background

Representative Glasscock appeared in support of the original bill. Others who testified in support of the bill, as drafted, included a Shawnee County District Court judge and representatives from the Kansas Parole Board and the Kansas Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence. Letters of support were submitted on behalf of the Kansas Peace Officers Association and the Kansas Sentencing Commission.

The Senate Committee amended provisions of S.B. 131 into H.B. 2440 and deleted the House Committee amendment (the seven factors to determine whether a crime was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel) to H.B. 2440, thus putting the provision of the bill dealing with the Hard 40 sentence back to the way the bill was introduced.

The fiscal impact of the original bill indicated no immediate impact but there could be some long-term impact related to the potential need for additional prison bed space.

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/bill_search.html