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 C. Proffitt, Director Laura Kelly, Governor


January 24, 2024


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 361 by Senate Committee on Ways and Means
In accordance with KSA 75-3715a, the following fiscal note concerning SB 361 is
respectfully submitted to your committee.
SB 361 would increase criminal penalties for a driver who leaves the scene of a deadly
accident. Under current law, it is a severity level 5, person felony when a driver leaves the scene
of an accident and knew or reasonably should have known that the accident resulted in injury or
death. The bill would increase this penalty to a severity level 4, person felony if the accident
resulted in the death of one person, and a severity level 3, person felony if the accident resulted in
the death of more than one person.
The Board of Indigents’ Defense Services indicates that the bill could increase agency
expenditures on legal counsel and support staff. The Board estimates that a severity level 4, person
felony requires 57 hours of direct case work by an attorney to provide constitutionally adequate
representation, which is identical to the amount spent on the severity level 5, person felony cases
charged under existing law. However, the Board indicates that severity level 3, person felony
cases require 99 attorney work hours, on average. Therefore, each severity level 3, person felony
case that is charged under the provisions of the bill would require the agency to perform 42 extra
hours of casework. This would result in additional State General Fund expenditures of $3,501 to
$5,040 per case, based on the rates of $83.36 per hour for public defenders and $120 per hour for
assigned counsel. The Board indicates that it may require 1.00 new FTE attorney position and
possibly additional support staff depending on the amount of additional work required by the bill.
The Judiciary indicates that enactment of the bill would have no fiscal effect on agency
operations. The Department of Corrections indicates that the bill may increase agency operating
The Honorable Kellie Warren, Chairperson
Page 2—SB 361

expenditures by a negligible amount that could be absorbed within existing resources. The
Sentencing Commission indicates that the bill would result in one additional prison admission per
year. Any fiscal effect associated with SB 361 is not reflected in The FY 2025 Governor’s Budget
Report.

Sincerely,

Adam C. Proffitt
Director of the Budget

cc: Trisha Morrow, Judiciary
Heather Cessna, Board of Indigents Defense Services
Jennifer King, Department of Corrections
Scott Schultz, Kansas Sentencing Commission


Statutes affected:
As introduced: 8-1602, 8-15