Division of the Budget
Landon State Office Building Phone: (785) 296-2436
900 SW Jackson Street, Room 504 larry.campbell@ks.gov
Topeka, KS 66612 Division of the Budget http://budget.kansas.gov
Larry L. Campbell, Director Laura Kelly, Governor


February 4, 2019


The Honorable John Barker, Chairperson
House Committee on Federal and State Affairs
Statehouse, Room 285-N
Topeka, Kansas 66612
Dear Representative Barker:
SUBJECT: Fiscal Note for HB 2023 by Representative Ward
In accordance with KSA 75-3715a, the following fiscal note concerning HB 2023 is
respectfully submitted to your committee.
HB 2023 would amend the definition of “criminal use of weapons.” The bill would prohibit
the selling, giving, or transferring of any firearm to any person who is identified in the terrorist
screening database, or any successor list or database, maintained and operated by the Federal
Bureau of Investigation. A violation would be a severity level eight, nonperson felony.
The bill would also change the criminal severity level from a class A nonperson
misdemeanor to a severity level eight, nonperson felony for selling, giving, or transferring any
firearm to any person who has been involuntarily committed because of mental illness, alcohol, or
substance abuse problems.
HB 2023 has the potential for increasing litigation in the courts because of the new crime
and change to the criminal severity level created by the bill. If litigation would increase, the Office
of Judicial Administration indicates that there would be a fiscal effect on the operations of the
court system. However, it is not possible to estimate the number of additional court cases that
would arise or how complex and time-consuming the cases would be. The fiscal effect would
most likely be negligible and could be accommodated within the existing budget resources.
The Office of Attorney General states enactment of the bill could have a fiscal effect if the
constitutionality of the bill is challenged in court and the agency needed to retain outside counsel.
The Honorable John Barker, Chairperson
Page 2—HB 2023

The Kansas Sentencing Commission estimates that enactment of HB 2023 would have no
immediate effect on prison admissions or beds. The Commission estimates there would be an
effect on the probation population and the agency’s workload; however, the Commission cannot
provide an estimate. Any fiscal effect associated with HB 2023 is not reflected in The FY 2020
Governor’s Budget Report.


Sincerely,

Larry L. Campbell
Division of the Budget


cc: Willie Prescott, Office of the Attorney General
Janie Harris, Judiciary
Scott Schultz, Sentencing Commission
Paul Weisgerber, KBI


Statutes affected:
As introduced: 21-6301