SESSION OF 2020
SUPPLEMENTAL NOTE ON HOUSE BILL NO. 2449
As Recommended by House Committee on
Judiciary

Brief*
HB 2449 would amend the statute governing
membership of the State Board of Indigents’ Defense
Services (BIDS) to raise the population threshold from
100,000 to 115,000 for counties to automatically qualify for a
lawyer member of BIDS, increase from five to six the number
of lawyer members of BIDS, and decrease from four to three
the number of non-lawyer members of BIDS. The bill also
would make technical amendments to ensure consistency in
statutory phrasing.

Background
The bill was introduced by the House Committee on
Judiciary at the request of Representative Patton.
In the House Committee hearing, the Executive Director
of BIDS testified in support of the bill, stating the current
statutory membership requirements cannot be satisfied due
to Douglas County becoming qualified for a lawyer member.
(Note: In addition to the county, lawyer, and non-lawyer
membership requirements, the statute also contains
congressional district and political party membership
requirements, some of which intersect with each other.) The
Executive Director stated the bill would allow Douglas County
to receive its lawyer member and for all statutory membership
requirements to be satisfied, while raising the threshold
sufficiently to allow BIDS to further consider any needed
____________________
*Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research
Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental
note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at
http://www.kslegislature.org
changes to its statutory membership requirements before
another county crosses the population threshold.
No other testimony was provided.
According to the fiscal note prepared by the Division of
the Budget on the bill, BIDS indicates enactment of the bill
would have no fiscal impact on its operations. Any fiscal effect
associated with enactment of the bill is not reflected in The
FY 2021 Governor’s Budget Report.


2- 2449


Statutes affected:
As introduced: 22-4519