Division of the Budget
Landon State Office Building Phone: (785) 296-2436
900 SW Jackson Street, Room 504 adam.c.proffitt@ks.gov
Topeka, KS 66612 Division of the Budget http://budget.kansas.gov
Adam Proffitt, Director Laura Kelly, Governor


February 22, 2023


The Honorable Fred Patton, Chairperson
House Committee on Judiciary
300 SW 10th Avenue, Room 582-N
Topeka, Kansas 66612
Dear Representative Patton:
SUBJECT: Fiscal Note for HB 2251 by House Committee on Judiciary
In accordance with KSA 75-3715a, the following fiscal note concerning HB 2251 is
respectfully submitted to your committee.
HB 2251 would require the Department of Education to create policies and procedures to
contract with a private vendor for the installation, operation, and maintenance of stop signal arm
video recording devices on school buses. The bill would allow the Department to assess a civil
penalty of $250 for associated violations of stop signal arms on school buses by motor vehicle
operators.
All civil penalties resulting from associated school bus stop sign arm violations from a
video recording would be remitted by the Department of Education to the State Treasurer and
credited to the newly created School Bus Safety and Education Fund. Expenditures from this fund
would be used for the installation, operation and maintenance of the video recording devices, the
verification of violations captured by the video recording devices, educating the public on the
dangers of the associated violations, and to alert the public of the consequences for the violations.
The bill would outline the procedures for issuing a notice of violation.
If a violation is detected by the private vendor from recorded images, the alleged violation
would be forwarded to the Kansas Highway Patrol (KHP) and reviewed and verified by a
designated official working under the supervision of the agency. Any recorded images showing a
vehicle operating in violation of the law would be considered prima facie evidence that a violation
occurred. The bill would outline procedures for notifying the registered owner of the vehicle that
a violation occurred, as well as an appeal procedure to contest the violation. Any images would
The Honorable Fred Patton, Chairperson
Page 2—HB 2251

not be subject to the Kansas Open Records Act; however, this provision would expire on July 1,
2028, unless the Legislature would extend or eliminate this sunset date.
If a registered owner of a vehicle fails to pay the civil penalty, the Department of Education
would inform the Division of Vehicles of the Department of Revenue and require the Division of
Vehicles to require the payment of any civil penalties owed to the Department of Education at the
time of vehicle registration or renewal; otherwise, the Division would be required to refuse to
register or renew the vehicle registration until the civil penalties are paid to the satisfaction of the
Department of Education. The bill would outline procedures for a violator to contest the civil
violation in accordance with the provisions of the Kansas Administrative Procedure Act. The bill
would outline the retention time for the recorded images.
The Department of Education would be required to make an annual report to the
Legislature detailing the number of violations captured, the total number of notices issued, and the
total number of civil penalties collected. The agency would be required to publish the report on
its website.
The Department of Education states that the enactment of HB 2154 would increase
revenues from civil penalties assessed and would increase expenditures associated with the vendor
contracting to administer the program. The number of school districts that would adopt a
resolution to participate in this program is unknown. Over time, revenues from civil penalties
would likely cover the contract costs to administer the program. The Department of Education
indicates that an additional position may be required to coordinate the program with the KHP,
depending on the number of school districts and buses that would participate. The Department did
not provide a cost estimate for this potential expenditure but indicates any additional expenditures
would be funded from the new School Bus Safety and Education Fund.
The KHP reports that the agency does not have sufficient staffing for the administrative
requirements of the bill. The agency estimates the bill would require additional annual
expenditures totaling $184,956 and 2.25 FTE positions to review recorded images and report its
findings to the Department of Education. This estimate would include 2.00 Program Consultant
II FTE positions at a cost of $78,048 for each position, and 0.25 Attorney FTE position at a cost
of $28,860. These expenditures would require an additional appropriation from the State Highway
Fund.
The Department of Revenues indicates the enactment of the bill would have no fiscal effect
outside of its normal operations.
The Division of the Budget notes that in order to begin the program, an initial funding
mechanism would be needed, either through an appropriation from the State General Fund or
through the vendor contract with the Department of Education for retroactive vendor payments
from the eventual civil penalty revenue. However, the bill does not specify how these initial costs
would be covered. In addition, the Division believes that an interagency agreement could
reimburse administrative expenses to the KHP, depending on the amount of revenues received
The Honorable Fred Patton, Chairperson
Page 3—HB 2251

from civil fines to the Department of Education in excess of costs for the Department to administer
its responsibilities. Any fiscal effect associated with HB 2251 is not reflected in The FY 2024
Governor’s Budget Report.


Sincerely,

Adam Proffitt
Director of the Budget

cc: Craig Neuenswander, Department of Education
Sherry Macke, Highway Patrol