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 21, 2019


The Honorable Russell Jennings, Chairperson
House Committee on Corrections and Juvenile Justice
Statehouse, Room 151-S
Topeka, Kansas 66612
Dear Representative Jennings:
SUBJECT: Fiscal Note for HB 2350 by House Committee on Corrections and Juvenile
Justice
In accordance with KSA 75-3715a, the following fiscal note concerning HB 2350 is
respectfully submitted to your committee.
HB 2350 would remove the felony convictions of cultivating, possessing or distributing
marijuana from Kansas law. These marijuana crimes would be reduced to misdemeanor violations
with the enactment of the bill.
The Kansas Sentencing Commission estimates enactment of HB 2350 would reduce 92
prison admissions in FY 2020 and 106 prison admissions in FY 2029. The Commission further
estimates that the enactment of the bill would reduce prison beds by 278 by FY 2029. As a result,
the Department of Corrections indicates it would avoid costs of $166,704 from the State General
Fund in FY 2020 resulting from reducing 92 prison beds. By FY 2029, the Department estimates
savings of $503,736 from reducing 278 prison beds.
The Office of Judicial Administration (OJA) indicates that the enactment of HB 2350
would have a fiscal effect on the Judicial Branch. With the reduction of the listed felony crimes
to misdemeanors, the Judicial Branch would experience more supervision of offenders required
by its court service officers (CSOs). The OJA estimates that an additional 8.00 FTE CSOs would
be needed at a cost of $473,647 in FY 2020 and $510,905 in FY 2021, all from the State General
Fund. The cost estimate includes fringe benefits for the positions.
In addition, the OJA indicates that the enactment of the bill would increase revenues to the
Correctional Supervision Fund and the State General Fund as a result of the increased supervision
of offenders and the fees the offenders are required to pay. Currently, the assessed probation and
correctional supervision fee is $60 for misdemeanor convictions and $120 for felony convictions.
The Honorable Russell Jennings, Chairperson
Page 2—HB 2350

For each fee, 58.33 percent is deposited to the Correctional Supervision Fund and 41.67 percent is
deposited to the State General Fund. However, the OJA cannot estimate the fiscal effect on
revenues to the state, as the actual number of offenders that would be supervised from the
enactment cannot be estimated.
The Office of the Attorney General indicates that the agency currently prosecutes very few
cases of marijuana possession, distribution, or cultivation crimes. As a result, the enactment of
the bill would have a negligible effect on the agency. However, the agency notes that local law
enforcement and local prosecutors would be significantly affected by the bill. A fiscal effect on
local governments cannot be estimated. Any fiscal effect associated with HB 2350 is not reflected
in The FY 2020 Governor’s Budget Report.


Sincerely,

Larry L. Campbell
Director of the budget


cc: Linda Kelly, Corrections
Janie Harris, Judiciary
Willie Prescott, Office of the Attorney General
Scott Schultz, Sentencing Commission


Statutes affected:
As introduced: 21-5705, 21-5706