Brief(1)
H.B. 2500 amends the law regarding identification and detection of criminals by expanding the requirement for those individuals who must submit blood and saliva specimens to include any convicted adult or a juvenile offender who is required to register according to the Kansas Offender Registration Act, commits a violation of a provision of the criminal sodomy statute, lewd and lascivious behavior, incest, or abuse of a child, including an attempt, conspiracy, or criminal solicitation to commit these offenses.
The bill also amends the Kansas Offender Registration Act to change the definition of sex offender for a person who engages in sexual acts with another when the victim is less than 18 and the offender is 19 or more years of age and four or more years older than the child. In other words, to be a sex offender the offender must be more than four years older than the child. This provision would cover the Romeo and Juliet situations.
Also contained in the bill is an amendment that requires lifetime offender registration for those persons convicted of an aggravated offense.
The bill raises the penalty for persons who violate the requirements of registration from a class A misdemeanor to a level 10 person felony.
Another provision of the bill requires a shorter time period for an offender who moves to register within ten days of arriving in a different county. Under current law, there is a 15-day time frame to register. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation is added to the list of agencies who must be notified when a released offender moves out of state.
Certification language that requires the court to certify that an offender is subject to the Act is deleted.
No cause of action is created under the Act, against the state or an employee acting within the scope of employment as a result of requiring an offender to register or an offender's failure to register.
The House Committee of the Whole added an amendment that requires every Kansas school district to provide a mandatory curriculum, for grades 7-12, that will include specific information regarding the Kansas Offender Registration Act. The information must include a discussion of who is required to register, the types of offense that require registration, and the terms of imprisonment for the commission of such offenses.
Background
Those individuals who appeared in support of the bill included a representative of the Attorney General's Office and a conferee from the Kansas Association of Court Services Officers.
The fiscal note indicates no fiscal impact on the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and little impact on the Department of Corrections. The Kansas Sentencing Commission indicates there could be some limited impact on offender populations.
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