SESSION OF 2021
SUPPLEMENTAL NOTE ON HOUSE BILL NO. 2011
As Amended by House Committee on Judiciary

Brief*
HB 2011, as amended, would amend law related to the
prosecution of election crimes. The bill would specify
authority to prosecute election crimes is vested in the
appropriate district attorney or county attorney or, at the
request of a district attorney or county attorney, in the
Attorney General. Current law vests prosecution authority in
the district or county attorney of the county where such act
occurred, the Kansas Attorney General, or the Kansas
Secretary of State.
Additionally, the bill would direct the Secretary of State
to promptly inform the appropriate county or district attorney
of evidence of any election crimes upon becoming aware of
such evidence. The Secretary of State would also be directed
to cooperate and provide assistance in the investigation or
prosecution of any election crimes, if requested by the
appropriate county or district attorney, or by the Attorney
General if the county or district attorney has requested
assistance from the Attorney General.

Background
The bill was introduced by Representative Carmichael.


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*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
House Committee on Judiciary
In the House Committee hearing on February 17, 2021,
a representative of the Office of the Secretary of State (OSS)
testified as a proponent of the bill, stating it would help
streamline and unify criminal prosecutions for such election
crimes. The Attorney General submitted written-only
proponent testimony. No other testimony was provided.
On February 25, 2021, the House Committee amended
the bill to limit the Attorney General’s authority to prosecute
elections crimes to cases where a request is made by a
district attorney or county attorney.

Fiscal Information
According to the fiscal note prepared by the Division of
the Budget on the bill as introduced, the Office of the Attorney
General (OAG) and the OSS entered into a memorandum of
understanding regarding the investigation and prosecution of
election crimes. The terms of this agreement are consistent
with the language of the bill, thus the OAG has already
anticipated the relatively low number of election crime
prosecutions that may be referred to the OAG by the OSS
and expenditures resulting from these prosecutions can be
absorbed within existing resources in the OAG’s Fraud and
Abuse Litigation Division. The OSS indicates enactment of
the bill would have no fiscal effect on the agency, which has
no expenditures budgeted to prosecute election crimes in the
state.
Election crimes; Secretary of State; Attorney General; county and district attorneys


2- 2011


Statutes affected:
As introduced: 25-2435
As Amended by House Committee: 25-2435