Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

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

                                                   March 11, 2019


         The Honorable Rick Wilborn, Chairperson
         Senate Committee on Judiciary
         Statehouse, Room 541-E
         Topeka, Kansas 66612
         Dear Senator Wilborn:
                   SUBJECT:       Fiscal Note for SB 65 by Senator Holland
                 In accordance with KSA 75-3715a, the following fiscal note concerning SB 65 is
         respectfully submitted to your committee.
                 SB 65 would create the Corrupt Public Officer or Public Employee Reporting Act, also
         known as the Corrupt Reporting Act. The bill would allow a person to request an inquiry and
         investigation by the Attorney General, signed by the person under penalty of perjury, declaring
         that the person is or has been:
         1.        The victim of corruption committed by a public officer or public employee; or
         2.        A witness to corruption committed by a public officer or public employee.
                 If the Attorney General has reasonable grounds to believe that a crime has been committed
         as a result of this conduct based on the Attorney General’s own inquiries or as a result of statements
         filed pursuant to the inquiry or investigation, the Attorney General must apply to a district judge
         to conduct an inquisition or petition for a state grand jury to be summoned. The Attorney General
         would be required to make all statements filed publicly available on the official website of the
         Office of the Attorney General, except the Attorney General must redact all personally identifiable
         information from each statement. If the Attorney General petitions for a grand jury to be
         summoned, the bill would require a state grand jury to be summoned that has jurisdiction to
         investigate and indict for crimes committed anywhere within the state.
                                            Estimated State Fiscal Effect
                                       FY 2019         FY 2019            FY 2020              FY 2020
                                        SGF            All Funds           SGF                 All Funds
              Revenue                           --                 --              --                     --
              Expenditure                       --                 --       $512,779               $512,779
              FTE Pos.                          --                 --           4.00                   4.00
The Honorable Rick Wilborn, Chairperson
Page 2—SB 65

        The Office of the Attorney General estimates enactment of SB 65 would increase its State
General Fund expenditures by $512,779 in FY 2020 for 4.00 FTE positions and other operating
costs. The estimate includes annual costs of $306,785 for salary and benefits for 1.00 Assistant
Attorney General FTE position, 2.00 Special Agent FTE positions, and 1.00 Legal Assistant FTE
position; annual costs of $100,000 for outside counsel; and one-time costs of $105,994 for office
equipment, vehicles, computers and other related costs and supplies need to equip the new staff.
        The agency indicates the additional staffing would be needed to receive, review and
investigate complaints and redact personal information from statements filed and post them to the
website. In the event the Office of the Attorney General would be expected to prosecute charges
resulting from inquisitions or grand jury proceedings, the new positions include hiring a prosecutor
specializing in public corruption cases. The agency indicates its estimate includes costs for outside
counsel in case defending such lawsuits exceeds the maximum workload for civil litigation
attorneys.
        The Office of Judicial Administration indicates its current case management system does
not have the ability to create a statewide jury pool. Therefore, enactment of SB 65 would require
additional administration and information technology costs to modify its system to create a
statewide pool, but a precise estimate cannot be provided. The Kansas Association of Counties
indicates SB 65 could increase costs for counties associated with a grand jury and any subsequent
legal matters, but a precise fiscal effect cannot be determined. The League of Kansas
Municipalities indicates SB 65 could have a fiscal effect on cities related to costs for staff assisting
the Attorney General with evidence collection, costs for outside counsel, and other legal fees, but
a precise estimate cannot be provided. Any fiscal effect associated with SB 65 is not reflected in
The FY 2020 Governor’s Budget Report.


                                                       Sincerely,

                                                       Larry L. Campbell
                                                       Director of the Budget


cc: Willie Prescott, Office of the Attorney General
    Janie Harris, Judiciary
    Chardae Caine, League of Municipalities
    Jay Hall, Association of Counties
Statutes affected: 
As introduced: 22-3001