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Minutes for HB2085 - Committee on Judiciary
Short Title
Modifying postrelease supervision for sexually violent offenders.
Minutes Content for Tue, Mar 14, 2017
Jason Thompson gave a brief on the bill saying it modifies postrelease supervision for sexually violent offenders. He went on to describe what the bill amends and how it clarifies the law for both juvenile and adult offenders.
Proponents:
Scott Schultz gave testimony in support (Attachment 8) of HB 2085 saying that it will provide for a postrelease supervision term of 60 months for sexually violent offenders under the age of 18. Director Schultz explained that while there had previously been a question of conflicting language, the Court of Appeals found no conflict with the language. In addition, he explained the necessity of the 60-month time frame, as a 2015 court case deemed it unconstitutional to impose a mandatory lifetime supervised postrelease as it is cruel and unusual punishment.
After a brief question and answer period, Tim Madden gave testimony on behalf of Secretary Joe Norwood, in support of the bill (Attachment 9). He explained further the Kansas Supreme Court's decision in State v. Dull in 2015, wherein the Court held that imposition of a mandatory lifetime postrelease supervision obligation is unconstitutional when imposed on offenders who were under the age of 18 at the time of the offense, even though they were certified to stand trial as an adult. Mr. Madden went on to say that this bill now offers what they believe to be an appropriate period of postrelease supervision, which is critical in ensuring public safety.
After a brief question and answer period concerning the point of the length of time in postrelease supervision and seeing no further discussion, Chairman Wilborn closed the hearing.
