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 242 by Senate Committee on Judiciary
                  In accordance with KSA 75-3715a, the following fiscal note concerning SB 242 is
          respectfully submitted to your committee.
                   SB 242 would enact the Cold Case Homicide Victims’ Families’ Rights Act. The bill
          would apply to any cold case homicide that occurred on and after January 1, 1970. No later than
          July 1, 2024, each state and local law enforcement agency head would be required to adopt a
          detailed, written policy and would be required to develop a written application to be used by a
          person to request a case file review. The agency head would review the case file to determine if a
          full reinvestigation would result in new investigative leads or a perpetrator. The bill details the
          process of the review. Starting July 1, 2026, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation would publish
          statistics on the number of cold case homicides.
                  The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) indicates that there are 192 cold cases that could
          be eligible for application under the bill. The KBI currently does not have the resources to conduct
          the independent reviews or reinvestigations and would require 6.00 Special Agent FTE positions
          at a cost of $1,010,229 from the State General Fund in FY 2024. This amount would finance
          salaries, wages, travel, vehicles, and items to equip the Agents.
                 The Office of the Attorney General states that the bill could generate additional cases that
          could be referred to its Criminal Litigation Division for possible acceptance and prosecution. If
          the Division is adequately staffed, any additional requests under the bill could be absorbed within
          the agency’s existing budget.
The Honorable Kellie Warren, Chairperson
Page 2—SB 242

        The Kansas Highway Patrol and the Kansas Commission on Peace Officers’ Standards and
Training state the bill would not have a fiscal effect. Any fiscal effect associated with SB 242 is
not reflected in The FY 2024 Governor’s Budget Report.
        The League of Kansas Municipalities and the Kansas Association of Counties indicate that
the bill could increase costs to cities and counties because they would be required to assist with
the implementation and enforcement of the provisions of the bill. However, an exact fiscal effect
cannot be estimated because the number of additional cases and the amount of evidence to review
is unknown.


                                                     Sincerely,

                                                     Adam Proffitt
                                                     Director of the Budget

cc: Paul Weisgerber, Kansas Bureau of Investigation
    Sherry Macke, Highway Patrol
    Wendi Stark, League of Kansas Municipalities
    Jay Hall, Kansas Association of Counties
    John Milburn, Office of the Attorney General
    Doug Schroeder, Peace Officers Standards & Training