Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

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


                                                    March 1, 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 237 by Senate Committee on Federal and State Affairs
                  In accordance with KSA 75-3715a, the following fiscal note concerning SB 237 is
          respectfully submitted to your committee.
                 SB 237 would make changes to the Kansas Standard Asset Seizure and Forfeiture Act. The
          bill would require a felony conviction before forfeiture of property would be allowed. The bill
          would allow a person whose property was seized to petition the court to determine if the forfeiture
          is unconstitutionally excessive. A plaintiff’s attorney would have the burden of proving beyond a
          reasonable doubt that the forfeiture is proportional to the seriousness of the offense.
                  The bill would require any sale proceeds to be deposited into the State General Fund. The
          bill would delete the current distribution of forfeiture funds, which includes state agencies and
          local governments involved in the forfeiture process. The bill would clarify that the Kansas Bureau
          of Investigation (KBI) would allow public access to all reports in the asset seizure and forfeiture
          repository. Currently, state and local law enforcement agencies submit a report to the KBI for the
          repository once a year, which would be audited by the KBI. The bill would change the reporting
          requirement to quarterly based on the calendar year.
                  The KBI states that the last five years the agency had 18 federal and nine state forfeitures
          totaling $335,515. Currently, the KBI uses forfeiture revenues to lease a storage facility and
          maintain special use vehicles at a cost of approximately $60,000 per year. These costs will be
          ongoing, and if the balance in the forfeiture funds is depleted the agency would request a State
          General Fund appropriation for this.
                 The KBI states that it currently has 1.00 Program Consultant that performs the reporting,
          compliance, training, contacting agencies, and completing Legislative requirements for the asset
The Honorable Kellie Warren, Chairperson
Page 2—SB 237

seizure and forfeiture repository. Because the bill requires more frequent reporting and
compliance verification, the KBI would require 2.00 Administrative Officer FTE positions at a
cost of $120,207 from the State General Fund in FY 2024. Of that amount, $112,207 would be
for salaries and wages and $8,000 would be for operating expenditures.
        The Kansas Highway Patrol states that the average expenditures from the forfeiture monies
have been $437,240 and are used to support the mission of the Special Operations Units. Since
FY 2015, the agency has received $6.4 million in revenues from state forfeiture and expended $3.4
million. Absent the ability to use funding from seizures, the agency would be forced to look for
other sources of funding to supplement the reduction in revenues. Furthermore, the requirement
that forfeiture could only happen after a felony conviction could lengthen the time the agency
holds property waiting for a trial, conviction, and acquittal to occur.
        The Office of the Attorney General states that this bill would lead to an unknown amount
of reduced revenue and increased costs to its agency. The Judicial Branch indicates that bill could
have a negligible fiscal effect on its operations that could be absorbed within existing resources.
Any fiscal effect associated with SB 237 is not reflected in The FY 2024 Governor’s Budget
Report.
         The League of Kansas Municipalities indicates that the bill could increase expenditures if
cities are required to assist with the implementation and enforcement of bill. However, the League
is unable to estimate an amount. The Kansas Association of Counites states that the bill could
have a fiscal effect on county expenditures and revenues since processes and procedures would
change, but the fiscal effect cannot be estimated.


                                                     Sincerely,

                                                     Adam Proffitt
                                                     Director of the Budget

cc: Vicki Jacobsen, Judiciary
    Wendi Stark, League of Kansas Municipalities
    Jay Hall, Kansas Association of Counties
    Paul Weisgerber, Kansas Bureau of Investigation
    Sherry Macke, Highway Patrol
    Randy Bowman, Department of Corrections
    John Milburn, Office of the Attorney General
    Michael Neth, Office of the Adjutant General
Statutes affected: 
As introduced: 60-4104, 21-5510, 21-6423, 60-4105, 60-4106, 60-4109, 60-4112, 60-4113, 60-4116, 60-4117, 60-4114, 60-4127