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Minutes for HB2065 - Committee on Judiciary
Short Title
Removing the duty of the driver of an authorized emergency vehicle to drive with due regard for the safety of all others.
Minutes Content for Tue, Jan 29, 2019
Natalie Scott, Assistant Revisor, provided an overview of HB2065 and addressed questions. (Attachment 3)
Amanda Stanley, League of Kansas Municipalities testified in support of HB2065. The League and its members believe it is the duty of government to reduce crime and provide for the health and safety of the public. A tactic occasionally required is police pursuits. The public duty doctrine expresses the general rule that absent a special duty, law enforcement duties are owed to the public at large and not to any specific person. Relying on Kansas Supreme Court precedent, in Montgomery v. Saleh, 55 Kan. App. 2d 429 (2018), the Court of Appeals found the phrase in K.S.A. 8-1506( d) "duty to drive with due regard for the safety of all persons" sets forth a specific duty owed to "all persons" and not a general duty to preserve the peace. The Court found that this plain language creates a duty under which law enforcement can be held liable under a negligence suit for police pursuits and has been construed to make the government liable even when the law enforcement officer is not involved in a collision. Furthermore, the Court found that the existence of this legal duty prevents the government from asserting sovereign immunity under the discretionary function exception of the Kansas Torts Claims Act. HB2065 asks the legislature to remove this specific duty found by the Court and leave in its place a generalized duty that officers need to avoid reckless conduct and be conscious of the safety of the public in their decisions on whether to pursue a suspect. League of Kansas Municipalities respectfully ask this Committee to pass HB2065 to the full House for consideration. Ms. Stanley addressed questions from the membership. (Attachment 4)
James M. Crowl, Shawnee County Counselor, testified in support of HB2065. Shawnee County supports this bill because it would strike an appropriate balance between the need to protect the public during the operation of emergency vehicles and the need to shield law enforcement officers from expensive litigation alleging claims of simple negligence. HB2065 creates this balance by providing only limited immunity to the operators of emergency vehicles. Mr. Crowl addressed questions from the membership. (Attachment 5)
Mike Taylor, Public Relations Director & Police Chief Terry Zeigler both from Unified Government of Wyandotte County, KCK presented testimony in support of HB2065. Police pursuits are an important public safety tool. HB2065 will remove confusion surrounding the legal liabilities cities and law enforcement may face. The City of Kansas City Kansas has real world experience demonstrating the importance of being able to pursue possible criminals. In 2014, under a previous Chief of Police, the KCK Police Department stopped police pursuits. Over a two year period, the number of drive-by shootings increased from 196 in a year to 286. At the same time, arrests for various crimes dropped from 164 to 95. The graphic on the reverse side of the attachment illustrates the dramatic change. Police pursuits are a necessary function of government and law enforcement. It needs to be made clear that such pursuits should covered by the Kansas Tort Claims Act. Police Chief Zeigler explained that all officers go through extensive training in the skill of driving both to an emergency where their help is needed along with pursuit situations. Police Chief Zeigler addressed questions from the membership. (Attachment 6)
Michael Koss, City of Overland Park, provided written testimony in support of HB2065. (Attachment 7)
Gordon Ramsay, Chief of Police, Wichita Police Department City of Wichita provided written testimony in support of HB2065. (Attachment 8)
William W. Sneed, Legislative Council, Kansas County Association of Multiline Pools provided written testimony in support of HB2065. (Attachment 9)
Ed Klumpp representing the Sheriff's Association, Peace Officer's Association, and Association of Chief's of Police all of Kansas provided written testimony in support of HB2065 (Attachment 10)
The hearing on HB2065 will continue on Wednesday January 30th, 2019.
Representative Patton told the membership there would be discussion and possible action on HB2038 and HB2039 at Wednesday's meeting.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:46 pm.
