House Status:
Senate Status:
Senate Status:
Minutes for HB2608 - Committee on Judiciary
Short Title
Removing provisions authorizing criminal restitution to be enforced as a civil judgment and authorizing judicial districts to contract for collection services for criminal restitution.
Minutes Content for Tue, Feb 15, 2022
Chairperson Patton opened the hearing on HB2608. Natalie Scott provided an overview of the bill. She stood for questions. (Attachment 1)
Proponent
Todd B. Butler began his testimony by stating there is $2.6 million owed to victims of crime in Kansas! He went on to say that there is currently no help for crime victims to collect restitution and HB2608 allows for the continued collection of restitution, benefiting the tens of thousands of crime victims who have yet to be made whole. It also allows business owners and individuals to utilize the best collection methods to recover judgments through bank garnishments. Finally, it protects the State of Kansas and its taxpayers from having to refund voluntary payments defendants made decades ago. Mr. Butler stood for questions. (Attachment 2)
Written Proponent
Steven Karrer, Deputy Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General (Attachment 3)
Mike Kagay, Shawnee County District Attorney, Kansas County and District Attorney's Association (Attachment 4)
Opponent
Bryan Cox stated that HB2608 is the wrong approach to resolving restitution in criminal cases in the wake of the Kansas Supreme Court’s ruling in State v. Arnett. Rather than patching a flawed process, the legislature should instead fix the root issue and provide for a jury to determine restitution in contested criminal cases. In his written testimony, Mr. Cox provides some background and suggestions as alternatives to address the issue of restitution owed to victims of crime. Mr. Cox said he would be happy to participate further in the consideration of this bill, or in the development of a substitution bill that would enact the recommendations in section II of his written testimony and fulfill the promise of Section 5 of the Kansas Bill of Rights. Mr. Cox stood for questions. (Attachment 5)
Chairperson Patton closed the hearing on HB2608.
