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 16, 2023


The Honorable Kellie Warren, Chairperson
Senate Committee on Judiciary
300 SW 10th Avenue, Room 346-S
Topeka, Kansas 66612
Dear Senator Warren:
SUBJECT: Fiscal Note for SB 170 by Senate Committee on Federal and State Affairs
In accordance with KSA 75-3715a, the following fiscal note concerning SB 170 is
respectfully submitted to your committee.
SB 170 would create the Kansas Assistance Animals in Housing Act. The bill would allow
housing providers to request documentation of a tenant’s disability-related need for an assistance
animal. Such documentation could be written or verbal. Housing providers would be allowed to
deny requests or rescind approval of assistance animal accommodations if the accommodation
imposes an undue burden to the provider or requires a fundamental alteration to the nature of the
provider’s operations or if the assistance animal poses a threat to others’ health, safety, or property.
Residents with assistance animals could be required to pay for damages caused by the animal, but
no pet-related deposit or liability insurance would be required. Housing providers would not be
liable for injuries or damages caused by an assistance animal.
SB 170 would also create the crime of misrepresentation of entitlement to an assistance
animal in housing. The first conviction, an unclassified nonperson misdemeanor, would be
punishable by a fine from $25 to $100. A second conviction would be a class C nonperson
misdemeanor, and a third would be a class A nonperson misdemeanor. Additionally, the housing
provider could initiate termination of the rental agreement in accordance with existing laws.
The Kansas Judicial Branch indicates that SB 170 would have an unknown fiscal effect.
Enactment of SB 170 could increase the number of cases filed in district courts because it would
create a new crime, increasing the time spent by district court judicial and nonjudicial personnel
in processing, researching, and hearing cases. Since this crime would carry a misdemeanor
penalty, there could also be more supervision of offenders required to be performed by court
The Honorable Kellie Warren, Chairperson
Page 2—SB 170

services officers. SB 170 could also increase agency revenue from docket fees, fines, and
supervision fees.
The Kansas Department of Agriculture indicates that enactment of SB 170 would not have
a fiscal effect. Any fiscal effect associated with SB 170 is not reflected in The FY 2024 Governor’s
Budget Report.
According to the League of Kansas Municipalities and the Kansas Association of Counties,
SB 170 would not have a fiscal effect on cities or counties.


Sincerely,

Adam Proffitt
Director of the Budget

cc: Vicki Jacobsen, Judiciary
Kellen Liebsch, Department of Agriculture
Jay Hall, Kansas Association of Counties
Wendi Stark, League of Kansas Municipalities