Brief (1)
Senate Sub. for HB 2224 amends the law regarding the placement of certain children in need of care and the placement of certain juvenile offenders; changes notice of release of juvenile offenders procedures and notice to schools; amends truancy reporting; and amends the Offender Registration Act regarding juveniles.
Children in Need of Care: Secure Placement. The bill prohibits the placement of any child in need of care in an adult jail or lockup and provides that secure placement is limited to secure care facilities. A new criteria for secure placement of a child in need of care who has violated a court order requires the court to determine reasons for the child's behavior and to determine whether all dispositions other than secure confinement have been exhausted or are clearly inappropriate, based on a written report submitted by Social and Rehabilitation Services (SRS) or submitted by a public agency independent of the court and law enforcement, if the child is in the custody of someone other than SRS.
Jail Records Review. The bill gives the Kansas Juvenile Justice Authority or the Authority's contractor the authority to review jail records to determine compliance with provisions of the law that prohibit placement of juveniles in adult jails except for certain limited exceptions.
Disposition of Juvenile Offenders-Out-of-Home Placements. The bill authorizes the court to order a juvenile offender to be placed in the temporary custody of the Commissioner of Juvenile Justice and the removal of the juvenile from the custody of a parent. The court, prior to placing a juvenile offender in the custody of the Commissioner, must determine that reasonable efforts have been made to maintain the family unit and to prevent unnecessary removal of a juvenile offender from the home, as long as the juvenile offender's safety is assured; and an emergency exists which threatens the safety of the juvenile offender.
If the juvenile offender is in the custody of SRS under the Kansas Code for the Care of Children, the Secretary of SRS shall prepare a report for the court documenting such reasonable efforts. If the juvenile offender is in the custody of the Commissioner, the Commissioner shall prepare a report for the court documenting reasonable efforts. Otherwise, the predisposition investigation writer shall prepare a report to the court documenting reasonable efforts.
Reasonable efforts are not required prior to removal if the court finds:
The above findings must be included in the court's order.
The juvenile offender's removal from the home must be the result of a judicial determination to the effect that continuation of residence in the home would be contrary to the welfare, or that placement would be in the best interests, of the juvenile offender. The contrary to the welfare determination must be made in the first court ruling that sanctions the removal of a juvenile offender from the home.
A permanency plan must be presented at the disposition of the juvenile offender or within 30 days thereafter. The court must determine that reasonable efforts have been made and what progress has been made to finalize the permanency plan that is in effect within 12 months of the date the juvenile offender is considered to have entered foster care and at least once every 12 months thereafter while the juvenile offender is in foster care.
The court must reflect in orders awarding custody to the Commissioner temporarily, reasonable efforts and contrary to the welfare findings at sentencing, and at modification hearings. If the juvenile offender is placed in the custody of the Commissioner, the court must provide the Commissioner with a written copy of any orders entered.
The bill requires the Commissioner to document in writing the reasonable efforts that have been made and the progress made to finalize the permanency plan, before each hearing reviewing the plan.
Notice of Release of Juvenile From Correctional Facility. The bill changes the notice to the school district time frame from 15 to 20 days prior to the release of the juvenile offender and requires the person in charge of the juvenile facility notify the school district in which the juvenile offender will be residing if the juvenile is still required to attend a school. The bill specifies the contents of the notice. The community case manager or a representative from the residential facility where the juvenile offender will reside is required to contact the principal of the receiving school in a timely manner to review the juvenile offender's case. If such juvenile offender's offense would have constituted an off-grid felony, nondrug felony crime ranked at severity level 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5, or a drug felony crime ranked at severity level 1, 2, or 3, on or after July 1, 1993, if committed by an adult, the person in charge of the juvenile correctional facility shall notify the county or district attorney of the county where the offender was adjudicated of the date and conditions upon which it is proposed the juvenile offender is to be released.
The county or district attorney is required to give written notice at least five days prior to the release of the juvenile offender to: any victim or the victim's family and the local law enforcement agency. Failure to notify shall not be a reason to postpone a release and does not create a cause of action against the state.
Juvenile Conditions of Release Violation. The bill permits a court to order a juvenile who violates conditions of release to serve the conditional release revocation incarceration period and the after care term set by the court pursuant to the placement matrix.
Truancy Reporting. The bill authorizes the local SRS area office to enter into an agreement with the county or district attorney to provide that employees of the school board shall make reports for all cases of children who are less than 13 years of age and are not attending school in lieu of SRS. The county or district attorney shall carry out duties as otherwise provided by the law. A copy of the agreement must be provided to the director of the SRS area office.
Prosecutor Blocking Release Limited. The bill limits the ability of the prosecutor to block releases of violent juvenile offenders to those involving acts committed prior to July 1, 1999, the implementation date of the placement matrix.
Credit for Time Served. The bill allows credit for time served in a juvenile detention facility or adult jail. It also defines sentence beginning date as the date of sentencing less any jail credit earned. The sentence beginning date is used to establish the date of release from a juvenile correctional facility.
Juvenile Corrections Officer Qualifications. The bill adds hiring qualifications for juvenile corrections officers to require they be at least age 21 and free of felony conviction. This proposal also allows the agency to set physical agility requirements for hiring at the juvenile correctional facilities.
Offender Registration. The bill also amends the Offender Registration Act to add "a juvenile offender sentencing order" to current provisions covering diversionary agreements and probation orders where the Court may order registration under the Kansas Offender Registration Act, thereby expanding the potential use of the juvenile offender registration to orders other than probation and diversion.
Background
The Senate Committee deleted provisions of HB 2224 (which became law in 1999 in another bill) and inserted provisions of SB 622, with additional amendments.
The legislation was requested by the Juvenile Justice Authority and endorsed by the Kansas Advisory Group, a citizen board that advises the Juvenile Justice Authority. The Kansas Association of School Boards supported a provision in the bill requiring school districts be notified when a juvenile offender is released to reside in the district.
Kansas receives approximately $1.3 million in Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) funds annually, through the Juvenile Justice Authority and distributed by the Kansas Advisory Group. These funds are used both to support statewide juvenile justice initiatives and system improvements and local juvenile justice programming such as juvenile diversion, teen courts, and school resource officers. In the event of demonstrated noncompliance with any one of the JJDPA core requirements, 25 percent of JJDPA formula grant funds are withheld and the remaining 75 percent of funds are to be directed to achieving and maintaining compliance with the violated requirement. One of the core requirements that has been causing difficulty in Kansas is the requirement of "Deinstitutionalization of Status Offenders." This requirement prohibits the secure detention of status offenders and children in need of care. Runaways, truants, minors in possession of alcohol, and other children classified under state law as "children in need of care" are never to be confined in secure confinement except for the purpose of processing and release for up to 24 hours (excluding weekends and holidays) if, and only if, the juvenile is found to be in violation of a valid court order and there has been finding made by the court, based on a written report from an appropriate agency other than law enforcement, that all less restrictive means have been examined and none exist. Currently, some status offenders and children in need of care have been held up to 24 hours in secure detention due to violation of a valid court order, but because the state law does not require that the court review the written report referred to above, Kansas must count these juveniles as violations of the core requirement.
The fiscal note states that the Juvenile Justice Authority notes that it could lose $214,500 if the bill is not passed. The Office of Judicial Administration reported the bill would place added responsibilities on the courts but the fiscal effect cannot be determined at this time. *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