SESSION OF 2023
SUPPLEMENTAL NOTE ON HOUSE BILL NO. 2023
As Amended by House Committee on Judiciary

Brief*
HB 2023, as amended, would create the crime of
interference with the conduct of a health care facility, which
would be defined as:
● Conduct at or in a health care facility so as to
knowingly deny an employee of the health care
facility to enter, to use the facilities of, or to leave
any such health care facility;
● Knowingly impeding an employee of a health care
facility from the performance of such employee’s
duties or activities through the use of restraint,
abduction, coercion, or intimidation, or by force and
violence or threat thereof; or
● Knowingly refusing to leave a health care facility
upon being requested to leave by the employee
charged with maintaining order in such health care
facility, if such person is committing, threatens to
commit, or incites others to commit any act that
did, or would if completed, disrupt, impair, interfere
with, or obstruct the mission, processes,
procedures, or functions of the health care facility.
The bill would also create the crime of aggravated
interference with the conduct of a health care facility, which
would be defined as any of the above conduct when in
possession of any weapon included in the crimes of criminal
use of weapons or criminal carrying of a weapon.
____________________
*Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research
Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental
note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at
http://www.kslegislature.org
 For purposes of the new crimes, the bill would define
“employee” to mean a person employed by, providing health
care services at, volunteering at, or participating in an
educational course of instruction at a health care facility and
would define “healthcare facility” to mean any facility or
portion thereof operated in whole or in part for the purpose of
providing inpatient or outpatient health care services by a
health care provider, as defined in continuing law governing
health care provider insurance.
Interference with the conduct of a health care facility
would be a class A nonperson misdemeanor, and aggravated
interference with the conduct of a health care facility would be
a severity level 6 person felony.
The bill also would amend the crime of battery to define
battery against a health care provider as a battery committed
against a health care provider while such provider is engaged
in the performance of such provider’s duty. “Healthcare
provider” would be defined in the same manner as in
continuing law governing health care provider insurance.
Battery against a health care provider would be a class
A person misdemeanor.

Background
The bill was introduced by Representatives Concannon
and Hawkins.
[Note: A substantially similar bill to the bill as introduced,
2022 HB 2620, was passed by the House Committee on
Judiciary during the 2022 Legislative Session. Provisions
modified from HB 2620 were included in the Second
Conference Committee Report for House Sub. for Sub. for SB
286, which was subsequently vetoed by Governor Kelly.]


2- 2023
House Committee on Judiciary
In the House Committee hearing on January 23, 2023,
representatives of AdventHealth Shawnee Mission,
Ascension Via Christi Hospitals Wichita, Kansas Hospital
Association, NMC Health, Saint Luke’s Health System,
Stormont Vail Health; a representative of the Kansas
Association of Chiefs of Police, Kansas Peace Officers
Association, and Kansas Sheriffs Association; a
representative of the Kansas Public Transit Association
(KPTA); and a physician testified as proponents of the bill.
Generally, the proponents stated violence in health care
facilities and against health care workers has risen over the
past decade, which is harming employees, disrupting care,
and affecting staffing levels. The representative of the KPTA
requested an amendment to add provisions covering public
transportation employees in the crimes of assault and battery.
Written-only proponent testimony was provided by
representatives of Ascension Via Christi Hospitals St. Francis,
Children’s Mercy Hospital, Kansas Medical Society, and
Stormont Vail Health.
Neutral testimony was provided by a representative of
the Center for Practical Bioethics, stating the bill is unlikely to
address the problem of violence against health care workers.
On February 8, 2023, the bill was withdrawn from the
House Calendar and rereferred to the House Committee.
On February 14, 2023, the House Committee amended
the bill to replace references to “hospital” with “healthcare
facility” throughout the bill, to define “healthcare facility,” and
to modify the definition of “healthcare provider.”

Fiscal Information
According to the fiscal note prepared by the Division of
the Budget on the bill, as introduced, the Office of Judicial
3- 2023
Administration indicates enactment of the bill could increase
the number of cases filed in district courts because it creates
new crimes. This could increase the time spent by district
court judicial and nonjudicial personnel in processing,
researching, and hearing cases, as well as result in more
supervision of offenders performed by court services officers
for misdemeanor offenses. Enactment of the bill could also
result in the collection of supervision fees in cases filed under
the provisions of the bill, most of which would be deposited
into the State General Fund. However, a fiscal effect cannot
be determined because the number of additional cases
cannot be estimated.
The Kansas Sentencing Commission indicates that
enactment of the bill may affect the number of prison beds
needed, but the total cannot be determined because the bill
creates a new factual circumstance. The Commission notes
that the number of convictions would likely be low and would
result in probation in most cases. However, a fiscal effect
cannot be estimated. The current estimated available bed
capacity is 9,428 for males and 936 for females. Based upon
the Commission’s most recent ten-year projection contained
in its FY 2023 Adult Inmate Prison Population Projections
report, it is estimated that the year-end population will total
7,933 male and 764 female inmates in FY 2023 and 8,043
male and 740 female inmates in FY 2024.
The Department of Corrections indicates enactment of
the bill would have no fiscal effect.
Any fiscal effect associated with the bill is not reflected
in The FY 2024 Governor’s Budget Report.


Crimes; interference with the conduct of a healthcare facility; battery against a
healthcare provider


4- 2023


Statutes affected:
As introduced: 65-425, 21-5413
As Amended by House Committee: 40-3401, 21-5413, 65-425