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Minutes for HB2698 - Committee on Judiciary
Short Title
Allowing juvenile offenders in the custody of the secretary of corrections to leave the juvenile correctional facility for certain programming and educational opportunities when approved by the secretary.
Minutes Content for Tue, Mar 5, 2024
Chairwoman Warren opened the hearing on HB2698.
Jason Thompson, Revisor's Office, provided an overview of the bill and stood for questions.(Attachment 1)
Megan Milner, Deputy Secretary of Juvenile and Adult Community based services, Kansas Department of Corrections, provided testimony in support of the bill She states behavioral health, education, and employment are some of the highest risk factors for those reintegrating into the community. Therefore, they support the initiative to offer more opportunities to address these existing risk factors, safely and effectively by allowing youth to attend programs outside a secure facility. (Attachment 2)
Ms Milner stood for questions. Senator Steffen asked how successful the program has been? Ms Milner said she would get the report for the committee. Chairwoman Warren suggests policy details would need to be presented to the committee for further discussion as there are concerns for the safety of the general public. What are other states doing with juveniles and how do they handle those teens who are about to be released? Ms Milner will research what other states have in place and report back. Secretary Jeff Zmuda provided a reply on March 11, 2024. (Attachment 3)
Written-only testimony in opposition of HB2698 was submitted by Lara Blake Bors, Juvenile Justice Oversight Committee. (Attachment 4)
There being no further conferees, Chairwoman Warren closed the hearing on HB2698.
