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Minutes for HB2485 - Committee on Corrections and Juvenile Justice
Short Title
Aligning the felony loss thresholds for certain property crimes.
Minutes Content for Thu, Feb 6, 2020
Natalie Scott gave an overview of HB2485.
The Committee had questions and comments.
Executive Director Scott Schultz on behalf of the Kansas Sentencing Commission testified in support of HB2485. (Attachment 11) He stated the goals accomplished with this change are:
- Lawmakers nationally have increased felony thresholds to prioritize costly prison space for more serious offenders and ensure that value-based penalties take inflation into account.
- A felony theft threshold of $1,000 established in 1989, for example, is equivalent to more than twice that much in 2018 dollars, when utilizing the Consumer Price Index.
- Critics have warned that these higher cutoff points might embolden offenders and cause property crime, particularly theft (larceny), to rise.
- This has proven not to be the case as illustrated by a study from the Pew Charitable Trusts.
Written testimony in support of HB2485 was submitted by:
- Kim Parker, Kansas County & District Attorneys Association (Attachment 12)
- Jessica Glendening, Kansas Association of Criminal Defense Lawyer (Attachment 13)
Chairperson Jennings called for final questions from the Committee and then closed the hearing.
