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 19, 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 119 by Senator Haley
In accordance with KSA 75-3715a, the following fiscal note concerning SB 119 is
respectfully submitted to your committee.
SB 119 would encourage each judicial district to establish one or more specialty courts. A
specialty court would meet the following general standards:
1. The court would have measurable goals and objectives;
2. The court would have a policy and procedure manual covering general administration,
organization, personnel, and budget matters;
3. The court would establish and adhere to practices that are evidence-based and outcome-
driven and would be able to articulate the research basis for the practices it uses;
4. The court would have written eligibility criteria and, to the extent possible, the court should
use evidence-based screening tools as part of the eligibility criteria;
5. All treatment providers used by the specialty court would be appropriately licensed by the
applicable state regulatory authority and trained to deliver necessary services, according to
the standards of their profession. The court would have a monitoring or quality-assurance
process to ensure that treatment providers are incorporating training and services consistent
with evidenced-based best practices;
6. The court would have written procedures for incentives, rewards, sanctions, and
therapeutic responses to participant behavior while under court supervision. Court
responses should be evidence-based when possible. Participant progress would be
measured on a regular basis; and
The Honorable Rick Wilborn, Chairperson
Page 2—SB 119

7. A judge handling a specialty court docket would be knowledgeable about underlying
medical or social-science research relevant to that docket. When feasible, the court should
have at least one back-up judge who is familiar with the court’s policies and practices so
that the court’s operations remain consistent even when the assigned judge is unavailable.
The bill would require the Supreme Court to adopt rules and regulations establishing
additional best practice standards for specialty courts, consistent with the general standards
established in the bill. SB 119 would define “specialty court.”
The Office of Judicial Administration indicates enactment of SB 119 could have a fiscal
effect on the operations of the Judicial Branch if a judicial district would elect to establish a
specialty court. The specialty courts established could increase judicial personnel time spent on
cases and hearings. Any fiscal effect associated with SB 119 is not reflected in The FY 2020
Governor’s Budget Report.
The Kansas Association of Counties indicates there could be a fiscal effect on counties that
elect to establish a specialty court; however, the Association cannot estimate how many counties
may elect to establish a specialty court.


Sincerely,

Larry L. Campbell
Director of the Budget


cc: Janie Harris, Judiciary