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
February 20, 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 483 by Senate Committee on Judiciary
In accordance with KSA 75-3715a, the following fiscal note concerning SB 483 is
respectfully submitted to your committee.
SB 483 would create the crime of interference with a security camera in a correctional
institution. The crime would be defined as intentionally covering a security camera without the
permission of the Secretary of Corrections, warden, sheriff, or keeper of the institution. The
penalty for this offense would be a class A nonperson misdemeanor. Removing, damaging, or
rendering inoperable the security camera without permission would be classified as aggravated
interference with a security camera in a correctional institution, carrying the penalty of a severity
level 9, nonperson felony. Any kind of interference with a security camera in a correctional
institution that occurs during a riot would also be classified as aggravated interference, carrying
the penalty of a severity level 6, nonperson felony.
The Board of Indigents Defense Services indicates that the bill would increase agency
expenditures on legal counsel and support staff by unknown amounts. The Board estimates that
on average, a severity level 9, nonperson felony case requires 35 hours of direct work by an
attorney to provide constitutionally adequate representation. Based on the rates of $83.36 per hour
for public defenders and $120 per hour for assigned counsel, each new severity level 9, nonperson
felony case brought to the agency would result in State General Fund expenditures of $2,918 to
$4,200. The Board indicates that on average, a severity level 6, nonperson felony case requires 57
hours of defense attorney work. Therefore, each new severity level 6, nonperson felony case
brought to the agency would result in State General Fund expenditures of $4,752 to $6,840. The
Board indicates that it typically does not handle misdemeanor cases unless they are attached to
higher level felony charges, so the creation of a new misdemeanor offense would have no fiscal
effect on agency operations.
The Honorable Kellie Warren, Chairperson
Page 2—SB 483
The Judiciary indicates that the bill has the potential to increase the number of cases filed
in district courts. This may increase agency operating expenditures due to the additional time spent
by district court judicial and nonjudicial personnel in processing, researching, and hearing cases.
However, the Judiciary is unable to calculate an exact estimate of this effect. The bill has the
potential to increase the collection of docket fees, fines, and supervision fees, which are deposited
in the State General Fund; however, the amount of additional collections is unknown.
The Sentencing Commission indicates that the bill has the potential to increase the number
of prison beds by an unknown amount. The current estimated available bed capacity is 9,668 for
males and 932 for females. Based upon the Commission’s most recent ten-year projection
contained in its FY 2024 Adult Inmate Prison Population Projections report, it is estimated that
the year-end population will total 8,556 male and 828 female inmates in FY 2024 and 8,847 male
and 870 female inmates in FY 2025.
The Department of Corrections indicates that the bill has the potential to increase agency
operating expenditures depending on its effect on prison beds. Any fiscal effect associated with
SB 483 is not reflected in The FY 2025 Governor’s Budget Report.
Sincerely,
Adam C. Proffitt
Director of the Budget
cc: Trisha Morrow, Judiciary
Jennifer King, Department of Corrections
Heather Cessna, Board of Indigents Defense Services
Scott Schultz, Kansas Sentencing Commission